The Ultimate Punishment
by SapphireClaw
Summary: Edward's fight with Father takes an unexpected turn when Father uses some kind of alchemy on Ed in a last effort to save himself. Ed kicks his butt anyway. Now Ed still has to get Al back, but at what cost? According to truth, Ed has already given something up. his Humanity. ParentalRoy/Ed and Homunculus!Ed (no romantic pairings) (I suck at summaries, full one inside)
1. Chapter 1

The Ultimate Punishment

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Author's note/full summary:

parental RoyEd (Homunculus!Ed) and parental RoyAl. Alternate Ending/Alternate Universe. dark n' angsty o3o and pretty graphic. Get ready for some tear-jerking peeps. ;3

This is a sort of alternate story that extends from the ending of Brotherhood. But not the VERY end of Brotherhood, it changes the outcome of Edward's battle with father before he looses his alchemy. It's kinda like the whole Pride Ed thing but this is a completely different. :3 I just wanted to write something different for a change instead of the humor-ish actiony stories I usually write. I may over-do it tho... Meh, get over it. I'm not used to this so get ready for a butt load of terribleness!

The story starts out after Father basically blows up. :I you know, when Ed gets pinned against the concrete and Al uses himself to get Ed his arm back so he can escape. But Ed doesn't get his arm back in this story. (Mainly because I like Ed's automail and it adds to the drama 'n angst.) :F Muahaahaa!

Also, some of the battle isn't completely cannon, I'm writing it from memory so it wont be perfect. some things are skipped, some things are changed, and the whole outcome is completely different. well, that's the point of an alternate end thing anyway. :3

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I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

-Chapter 1

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The air was thick with rubble and dust after the shockwave. Edward groaned and opened his eyes but couldn't see a thing through all the damn debris in the air. He tried to move, but a wave of pain shot through his arm.

"What the hell..." Ed hissed and looked to his left where the pain was coming from.

"W-WHAT?!" He gasped. He was trapped, his body pinned against a broken wall of concrete. His arm dripped blood, a thick metal rod protruding from the flesh. "SHIT!"

"My stone..." A horse voice wheezed.

Edward's head snapped up and stared in horror at Father. The homunculus looked weak, his movements clumsy and labored. He turned his head to look directly at Edward. The man's face twisted into an expression of rage and hatred.

"Give me my stone..." Father demanded as he began advancing upon the young alchemist.

Edward's eyes widened in terror and he tried struggling against the rod that pinned him to the concrete. All that gave him was another wave of pain. He lifted his head back up to stare at the advancing homunculus.

"You brat... You took my stone... But I still have some of it's power left... You shall pay for what you have done!" Father rasped, staggering closer towards Edward.

"ED! Fullmetal, get out of there!" Ed's friends cried from the outskirts of the crater. But they all were incapable of helping the boy. All they could do was watch.

- Al

"Damn it..." Alphonse cursed. He looked down at May who was standing next to him, calling out to Edward. "May..." Al murmured sadly.

The Xingese girl looked up at Al, worried about his sad yet determined tone. "Y-Yes?"

"I need you to use my soul as payment." He told her pleadingly. "To save my brother..."

May gasped in horror. "But Alphonse! Won't you be-"

"I know." Al interrupted. "But it's the only way." he begged.

May nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Okay..."

- Ed

"You puny human, you ruined everything!" Father snarled.

Edward struggled harshly against his pinned arm, tearing the wound apart and making it worse. his automail hanging uselessly at his side. "Shit!"

"Ed!" A voice shouted from somewhere behind Father.

Edward and father stopped abruptly and looked at the Xingese princess who called out. Al was lying on the ground in front of her, a transmutation circle surrounding his armor shell.

"M-May? Al?! What are you doing?!" Ed shouted.

"I'm sorry Edward..." May whimpered, tears staining her cheeks. She threw five knives in Ed's direction, they all stabbed the concrete around Edward's automail arm in a star shape.

Ed's eyes widened in horror and realization. "N-No! Stop!" He shrieked. he was too late.

A bright light suddenly flashed. But an explosive sound was heard and the alchemic reaction was suddenly cut off. May gasped in shock as her transmutation failed.

Father grinned a creepy smile at the little Xingese girl. He held her throwing knives in his hand tauntingly. "Ha! you puny human, a simple transmutation cannot stop me!" He sneered. "But the damage has been done, to you!"

May gasped in horror when she realized what Father meant. Alphonse was gone. May's alchemy had been interrupted too far into the reaction, Al was still deconstructed. He was probably at the gate now...

"ALPHONSE!" Edward screamed in rage and grief.

Father laughed and looked back at Edward. "You know... You might be of use to me after all..." He murmured. Father reached his arm down to Ed in a fast blur.

"What-" Edward's words were cut off and replaced with a gasp of shock and pain.

Father smiled evilly as his hand collided the young alchemist's chest, sharp nails digging into his core. The boy cried out in agony as alchemic light flashed and Father's blood veins glowed red.

"EDWARD!" Roy, May, Izumi and the others shrieked desperately.

"W-What the hell are you doing to me, bastard?!" Ed managed to gasp against the pain.

"Im weakening in my current state. So I need a new body if I'm going to fight back... Yours will do fine." Father sneered. The last of his Philosopher's stone was draining from his body and into Edward's. Now all that was left was the soul transfer and Ed's body would become Father's.

"I don't think so!" A voice shouted.

Father gasped as Greed suddenly leaped down upon the two blondes, arm covered in the ultimate shield. In one quick blur, he sliced Father's arm off with his claws.

"Wh-What?! No! It was nearly complete!" Father snarled as he stumbled away.

Edward gasped as the hand that was digging into his chest turned to ash and disintegrated. His eyes closed and he limply slumped forward.

"Sorry, Pops, but I can't let you do that!" Greed laughed. Then his expression changed and he turned his head to look at the lifeless Edward behind him. "Ed, You alright?" Greed asked in Ling's voice. The blonde teen didn't answer.

Suddenly, Edward's body convulsed in painful spasms and red alchemic light sparked through the air. Ed made pained choking noises as some kind of alchemy affected him.

"Ed?!" Ling gasped, turning around and grabbing Edward's shoulders. "Edward Elric, what's going on?!" Edward didn't answer. 'It looks like what I went through when I became greed...' Ling thought.

'Idiot prince! Behind you!' Greed's voice shouted in Ling's mind.

Ling spun around and saw Father running towards him. Ling gasped in shock as Father stabbed him in the chest. Red alchemic light sparked and Greed's Philosopher's stone started to drain from his body.

"NO! I WON'T LET YOU HAVE IT!" Greed snarled.

"Come on Greed. be a good son and give me your stone!" Father demanded.

'Greed! What do we do!?' Ling shouted to the homunculus in his mind.

'There's nothing we can do!' Greed gasped. His soul was suddenly pulled away, but Ling grabbed him.

'I won't let you go!' Ling cried.

'Cut it out, kid! There's no way out of this for me! But you don't have to be sucked into my old man with me!'

'No, I won't!' Ling argued.

'Heh, fine. We'll fight him together!' Greed shouted. Ling smiled and nodded, eyes flashing in determination.

Ling gasped as a fist suddenly collided with his face. He let go of Greed's soul and fell backwards in shock.

'Greed!' the Xingese prince cried out as the soul was pulled away.

'Ha! I can't believe you fell for that! I'm gonna miss you, ya annoying brat!' Greed laughed.

'Greed! You liar!' Ling screamed. But it was too late, he was gone.

-

"Greed!"

Edward's golden eyes opened groggily at the sound of his friend screaming. His whole body felt like it was on fire. Especially his heart...

"Ling? Wha?" Ed looked up and saw the prince falling away from Father with the blonde bastard's severed arm disintegrating from his body.

"What?! What have you done?!" Father shrieked. His arm began to turn grey and brittle like ash, spreading up his limbs to the rest of his body.

"Ha! I reversed my ultimate shield! Turning your body into the most weak and fragile carbon there is!" Greed's voice laughed.

"No! I Wont be humiliated like this!" Father shouted. He suddenly grabbed Greed's soul from inside himself and ripped it from his body.

"Greed!" Ed screamed as the black soul disintegrated into the dusty air. His head whipped around to look at Father in rage. The blonde homunculus staggered away as his body began to crumble.

"You... BASTARD!" Ed shrieked. He ripped his arm free from the sharp metal that pinned him, ignoring the massive wave of pain and streams of blood it brought and advanced towards Father.

Father tried stumbling away from the teen but couldn't avoid his attack. Edward's fist cracked strait through the homunculus's chest. He staggered away from Ed in shock.

"B-Beaten by a tiny human..." Father rasped. His eyes flashed in uncertainty and focused on Edward for a moment, studying him. A smirk suddenly appeared on his face. "But he is no longer human..." Father wheezed.

"What?" Ed gasped, not sure if he heard the blonde homunculus's quiet statement correctly.

Before Father could reply, he suddenly spasmed and thousands of eerie red souls spilled from his body. Edward stumbled backwards in shock and stared at them with wide eyes.

"The stone... My new stone..." Father rasped. He shuddered once and his body crumbled into dust.

"What did he mean by... No longer human?" Edward whispered to himself. "Must have not heard him right..." He shrugged and turned towards the cheering crowd of soldiers. Edward didn't notice that the wound on his arm had mysteriously healed itself...


	2. Chapter 2

(Oh, PS: author's notes are in parentheses between paragraphs)

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I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

- Chapter 2

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"Alphonse... Oh, Alphonse..." May sobbed in despair.

"May... What happened?" Edward demanded, walking up behind the Xingese princess.

May tensed and whipped around to stare at the blonde teen. 'Something doesn't feel right...' She thought while studying Edward carefully. 'I sense a change within him... Something evil...'

Edward kneeled down and looked May in the eyes. "What HAPPENED?!" he demanded.

May flinched at his fiery gaze. she couldn't help but feel a bit frightened, especially with the terrible power she can sense coming from him. "Al-Alphonse told me to use his soul to help you... But it didn't work!" She sobbed. "I'm sorry! So sorry! Please don't hate me!"

Edward's eyes widened in horror. And he quickly stood up. May flinched away from him, not sure if he would act aggressively towards her for using his brother in a transmutation.

"Shit! no, No, NO!" Ed shouted angrily.

He paced around with his hands wringing nervously. His automail arm seemed to decide to work and all of a sudden and his severe injuries didn't bother him.

"Ed..." Izumi said softly, coming up to her student and placing her hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to look at her. Izumi flinched internally when their eyes met. Something seemed off... "I'm sorry..." she murmured.

"No... It's not your fault." Ed sighed. He glanced down at his flesh hand and then his automail. He looked at May, she was crying her eyes out over her lost friend, Ling was trying in vain to comfort her.

Ed looked at everyone who had gathered around: Izumi, Hoenhiem, Roy, Furey, Breda, Ross, Denny, Riza, Falman, Sig, Ling, May, Lan Fan, Oliver, Armstrong, Scar, Miles, the Briggs soldiers, Central's soldiers, and the two human chimeras.

(sorry if I don't have everyone listed correctly, I'm doing this completely from memory.)

'My friends...' Ed thought. 'They all risked their lives to help each other, including me and Al...' he suddenly clenched his fist and waked towards the center of the crater, a fire of determination and realization burning in his golden eyes.

"What is it, Ed? Do you have a plan?" Izumi asked as her student walked past her. Ed nodded but didn't answer.

He continued towards a cleared space, picking up a metal rod on his way. Edward stopped walking and began tracing in the stone with the long piece of metal. A perfect circle formed. Then a geometrical base to guide a reaction together. then a couple of curving lines that symbolized the flow of energy. And finally a few symbols around the edge. Edward tossed the rod to the side and stepped into the transmutation circle's center.

Izumi and the other alchemists in the crowd stared at the circle in shock and horror. "A human transmutation circle?!" They gasped.

"Edward, what the hell are you going to do with that?!" Izumi demanded.

Edward grinned and his eyes flashed strangely. "You guys watch out, alright? I'm going after Al. I might not return but I WILL get Alphonse back. Trust me on this. just like you've trusted and guided me and Al the entire time. I know I can trust you to take care of my little brother if I don't return, and you can trust me to get him here." Edward said calmly before clapping his hands.

"Wait! Edward! What are you going to do?!" Ling shouted.

Ed looked at his friend and smiled. "I'm going to do what I should have done a long time ago. Good bye you annoying squinty-eyed pain in the neck!" He laughed.

Edward slammed his hands down on the circle, a strange red-streaked golden light sparked and Ed stood up to face his friends one last time.

'My friends... Without them, I am worthless...'


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

- Chapter 3  
(This will explain everything. :3)

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"We meet again, You creepy bastard!" Edward snarled at the white figure that sat cross-legged in front of a massive stone door.

"Ah, if it isn't my favorite little alchemist!" Truth sneered. "You're here for your brother, I presume."

"Yep! And I have your payment right here!" Edward announced confidently, slamming his hand on the huge doorway behind him. "This is my Gate and I can do what I want with it!"

Truth smiled a creepy malicious grin and burst into laughter. Edward stared at the figure in confusion. "What's so funny?!" He snarled.

"You have already given something up, young alchemist!" Truth sneered.

Edward simply stared at the creepy human-like shape in front if him. "What do you mean?!"

"Oh, you really don't know?" Truth cackled. "You have given up something far more valuable than your Gate." Truth paused and grinned evilly at Edward's horrified and confused expression.

"W-What did I loose?" Ed stammered.

Truth grinned even wider and stood up, pointing a finger at Edward. "You gave up your humanity." He laughed.

Edward stumbled backwards in shock. "W-What?! No... N-No I didn't! Why would I willingly give away my humanity?!" Ed gasped.

"Who said you gave it up willingly? It was taken from you by the one your kind called Father."

"My kind? W-What do you mean?!" Ed stammered.

"Foolish child... or should I say... Foolish Homunculus?" Truth cackled, smiling even bigger when he saw Edward's horrified expression. "That's right, you are no longer human, but a deadly monster that cannot live without slaughtering everyone in it's path."

Ed's body began to tremble and he fell to his knees. "No... No... It can't be true... H-How did this happen?!" he whispered.

"Tch, you don't remember?" Truth laughed. "That foolish homunculus Father who believed he could gain the powers of god took away your humanity. He tried transferring his stone and soul into your body so he could take it from you and make it his new body. But the transfer was interrupted, he only managed to drain his Philosopher's stone into you but not his soul. Don't you remember when your prince friend became a homunculus? Father removed a portion of his stone and soul and made it take over the prince's body. But you only have the stone and not a corrupted soul fragment. However, a philosopher's stone is still very contaminated, it will corrupt your soul and cause you to feel the need to kill everyone you see, just like a homunculus. There is no way to fight it, little alchemist, accept your fate." Truth said coldly.

Edward shook his head in misery and horror. "What does that have to do with getting my brother back?!" He demanded.

"You don't understand. Your humanity is far more valuable than you might think. It has an eternal punishment instead of merely a physical or psychological punishment. Without your humanity, you will never be able to live near humans again without feeling the overwhelming urge to kill. Not only that, but you will never be able to be with your precious little brother without putting him at a high risk of being slaughtered by none other than yourself. You will never truly belong with humans again, forced to watch from afar, to wallow alone in your guilt and feel the growing need for company! But once you try to belong, the humans will find out what you really are! A murderous monster! You will have to live out the rest of your immortal homunculus life without friends and family! It's the ultimate punishment! Like I said, it cannot be avoided. Accept your fate!" Truth shouted maniacally into the air.

Edward whimpered and sank to the ground. He buried his face in his arms to think about what he should do.

Finally, Edward lifted his head to Truth, who was sitting on the ground patiently. "Have you made your decision?"

"Yes." Ed answered emotionlessly. "Use it... Take my humanity in exchange for my brother. ALL of him. His body and his soul."

Truth grinned. "You do understand that you can never be with him again, right? Think about it. Why use that extreme value for just a simple human that can no longer bring joy or comfort to your life? Why not use it on yourself, you can get your arm and leg back or use it to become even more powerful!"

Edward glared at Truth, his golden eyes full of hatred. "Because I still care about my brother!" He snarled, clenching his fists. "I don't care if I'm no longer a human! Whenever possible, and wherever possible, I will protect my friends! Even if I have to watch from the shadows." Edward hissed, his voice low and deadly.

Truth smiled again. But it wasn't an evil smile, he seemed to be a tiny bit proud and content with Edward's answer. "Very well, Alphonse will be released. You can leave this place soon." Truth said. "But remember, 'Homunculus'," he spat the word as if it were disgusting, "Even the slightest temptation can cause you to snap and go on a bloody rampage, destroying anything and anyone in your way."

Edward's eyes widened. "But once me and Al are returned, doesn't that mean I'm going to show up in the same place where I transmuted myself? surrounded by all of my friends?! H-How can I keep myself from murdering them?!" He asked, voice full of fear and horror.

"Oh, don't worry about that. Your soul will stay pure for a while before it starts to corrupt. You can slow the process by avoiding human contact and keeping away from them altogether. You can, however, watch the humans from a distance without being tempted to kill." Truth said plainly.

He and Edward stared at each other for a while before Ed heaved a sigh. "Okay... I'm ready..." Truth smiled and immediately the huge Gate opened with a loud groaning creak.

"Before I go." Edward said before walking into the open door. "You never give information or explanations like that to anyone. Why did you give me so much information? Surely there is a toll?" he questioned.

Truth's evil grin grew even bigger. "Ha, because your humanity is more valuable than your brother's soul and body, I Had to make up for it in some way. so I gave you knowledge." He said.

Edward nodded and faced the wide black expanse of the Gate. He took a deep breath and stepped inside.

'Oh, please don't let me do anything to hurt Alphonse...' Ed pleaded in his mind.


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

- Chapter 4

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(Warning: OOCness inbound! OOCness inbound! Strike in 3... 2... 1...)

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The waiting crowd of soldiers were getting worried. It had been nearly half an hour... What if Ed and Al never return!?

A bright red light suddenly flashed in the center of the human transmutation circle, blinding the people who were watching. Once the light faded, they could see two human figures, Ed and Al. Ed kneeled over his little brother and wrapped him in a big military jacket he found lying nearby. His movements were slow and over-gentle as if Ed was afraid he would hurt Al.

"Edward!" "Alphonse!" "Fullmetal!" the others cheered.

Ed's head shot up to stare at the five approaching people. Riza, Roy, Izumi, May, and Ling. They all looked so happy to see the two brothers. Their happiness only reminded Edward of what he lost, what more he might loose if he snaps, and what his new self might do.

"Ed! Ed, are you alright?!" Izumi shouted as she ran up to her ex-pupil and crouched down next to him.

Edward made a whimpering noise and curled into a ball, pinning his hands to his sides. "N-No... Stay away..." He whispered.

"Ed? What's the matter?"

"T-Teacher..." Ed rasped.

"Yes?"

"I...Is he alright? Is my b...brother okay?" Ed whispered.

Izumi looked to her left where the others were taking care of the malnourished boy. "Yes, he'll be just fine, Ed." Izumi said gently, ruffling Edward's golden hair affectionately.

Ed shied away and looked at the ground in shame. "He will be as long as I stay away..." He mumbled quietly to himself.

"E-Ed?" A tiny raspy voice called.

Ed looked up and saw his brother lying on a makeshift bed made from several military jackets from the officers who had gathered. He had Roy's military coat draped over his shoulders to cover himself.

His body was so thin and fragile... Edward winced at the thought of what the new Homunculus side of himself could do to his own beloved little brother. But as Ed pictured all of the possible murderous outcomes, a small smirk worked it's way onto his expression.

'Hmm... I could strangle- WHAT?!' Edward's sane thoughts interrupted the horrible ones. 'Why the hell was I thinking like that?!' he screamed at himself.

"Brother... Are you okay? Why were you staring at me like that?" Al asked innocently, interrupting Ed's horrifying thoughts.

Edward stared at Al, not saying a word. Finally he looked away and made a choking sound. "T...The G-Gate..." he whimpered.

Izumi and Alphonse's eyes widened in terror. "What happened at the gate!? What did you give up?!" They demanded.

Edward stared up at his teacher as she loomed over him. She angrily glared down at her ex-student, waiting for an answer. "Well?" Izumi demanded harshly. She sensed that odd aura around Edward again... But this time it seemed stronger.

(Warning: Ed kinda goes off the deep end from here on. You have been warned. He also laughs alot... Do not question my motives! :I)

Ed's eyes flashed with insanity and he smiled creepily. "Heh... Heh... Hehheheee... HAHHAAHEEEHE!" He laughed maniacally, throwing his head back and filling the air with his loud crazed laughter.

Izumi gasped and took a step away from her ex-student. His pupils were dialed into tiny specks of black drowned in a sea of odd dark bronze instead of lively gold.

"Edward! Edward, what's wrong?!" She pleaded.

"Brother! What's going on?! What's the matter with him?!" Al shrieked.

"I don't know!" Izumi shouted.

She wrapped her arm around Edward and pulled him into a hug, softly stroking his golden hair. The boy calmed immediately and leaned towards her touch. His spasms and insane laughter subsided.

"Ed, Ed can you hear me?" Izumi called softly.

Edward's eyes opened. They seemed normal enough, back to their liquid gold color. but there was still something wrong... terribly wrong.

"T-Teacher...?" He croaked.

"Yes, Edward. I'm here... Your safe, no one will hurt you now..." Izumi said softly, cradling the broken teenager. Ed let himself relax, leaning into his teacher for a moment. He let out a deep sigh and his trembling stilled.

Suddenly, Edward made a shrieking noise and he ripped himself from Izumi's embrace. He staggered to his feet and stared around fearfully at the massive crowd of soldiers that clustered around him, blocking any means of escape.

"Edward, what's wrong with you?!" Izumi asked the hysterical teen.

Ed's unhealthily dilated golden eyes met hers. He just stared at her, his eyes searching through her very soul. His eye color slowly darkened and a maniacal grin spread across his features. "Hehe... Hehhe... HEHEHAAA!" He cackled.

Izumi was frozen in horror as her ex-student, and one of the two closest things to sons she ever had, advanced towards her with a murderous glint in his dark eyes and his automail arm raised for an attack.

But as soon as he was no more than two steps away from Izumi, Edward's eyes flickered back to gold. he blinked once and shook his head. Ed looked up at his teacher in confusion and saw the horror and fear in her eyes. Ed looked to his left and saw his automail fist raised for a nasty blow. His eyes widened in horror and realization.

"N...No!" Ed gasped, stumbling away from a shocked and horrified Izumi. "NO! T-Truth said it wouldn't happen until later!" he cried, pulling at his hair.

"Ed what's the matter? Did you just say Truth?! What did he take from you?!" Izumi shouted a little too harshly.

Edward froze at the sound of her angered voice. His lips curled into a smirk and he looked back up at her, His eyes darkening. The beginnings of hysterical laughter rising in his throat.

"No!" Edward gasped, eyes returning to gold, shaking his head violently. "Wh-Why did it have to be this way..." Ed whimpered and collapsed onto the ground, scooting backwards until his back was against a wall of debris. "T-Truth, you lying... bastard."

Izumi approached the teen without hesitation. Others in the crowd of soldiers warned her not to come any closer, but she just told them to stand back and shut up. Izumi kneeled down to the frightened Edward and rubbed his back comfortingly.

"Shh... It's okay Ed... Nobody will hurt you here." She cooed.

Edward quickly stood up and shoved his teacher away. "Ed. Wait-"

"NO!" Ed snarled, spinning around and glaring at his teacher, catching everyone off guard. His gaze softened slightly, "You say that it's safe here, that nobody is going to hurt me? I believe that, nobody here would try to harm me, you're all my friends." Then Edward's golden gaze became cold and hardened, "but what about the other way around? Who says I won't hurt YOU, huh?!" Ed snarled. "That bastard Truth took it from me... But he said I would stay stable for a while before I snapped, but I almost attacked you Teacher!"

Izumi took a step towards her student and reached a trembling had out to him. "Ed... Wh-What did Truth take from you?" She murmured.

Edward looked her in the eyes and turned his head to sweep his gaze over his friends. His eyes finally rested on his little brother. Alphonse was horror-stricken. frozen in shock and fear, staring at Ed.

Ed turned his back to Izumi and walked towards the crowd to leave. The soldiers parted and moved away from the boy in fear. Edward stopped and looked back at his teacher.

"You want to know what he took from me?" Edward chuckled, only a hit of craziness in his laughter.

"Yes, we could help you." Izumi pleaded.

Ed smiled a wide, crooked grin and stared oddly at Izumi from behind his golden bangs. He didn't look insane, (technically). Ed looked... Miserable, scared, and betrayed.

"My sanity." Edward whispered.

"What? What do you mean?" Izumi gasped.

Ed spun around and scowled at his ex-teacher. "What more do you want me to say?! He took my sanity, my family, my friends, my will to live, being able to control my own actions, my heart. He. Took. Everything! I can't control myself! one minute I'm fine and the next I could be laughing in the corner covered in blood with someone's dead body lying next to me." Edward hissed. "I can't live like that, knowing that one little slip up will result in me slaughtering my closest friends..." Edward's voice lowered to a whisper. "I can't do that... I can't live with the guilt and the risk. But I can't live without my family either! I don't know what to do!" Ed cried.

Izumi hesitantly placed her hand on Edward's shoulder. Ed looked at her with tears streaming from his eyes. "Edward... We will get through this. There could be more options. What do you say?"

Edward's eyes lit up with determination but it was sad and dark. Ed pushed his teacher aside and began walking to the edge of the crowd.

"Ed?"

"I made up my mind. I can't live with myself either way. You all would be safer without me in existence. Good bye." Ed announced in morbid determination. He passed by his brother and stopped. He looked down at Alphonse sadly. Al was sobbing in despair and tears streamed down his face.

"Sorry, Al... At least you got your body back... But I couldn't live with myself if I ever hurt you..." Ed murmured. He gave his little brother a quick hug and continued to the crowd.

"Fullmetal." Roy said, grabbing Edward's shoulder as he walked by.

(dude! Roy, you don't just grab an insane person from behind like that, geez!)

Edward gasped in surprise as his body was jerked to a stop. He swung his arm away in defense and kicked Mustang in the stomach. Roy crumpled to the ground while Edward looked down at him, eyes dark and insane. A sudden flash of light and the boy's automail arm became a sharp blade, pointed strait down at Roy's head.

"Fullmetal! Don't do it!" Mustang shouted. "You are stronger than this, you can fight it."

Edward continued to stare at his superior officer without saying anything. His automail blade was deconstructed and he dropped his arm to his side in defeat. "You're wrong, Roy. This is my punishment. To live in fear of murdering my own family. and I can't live like that. I'm sorry, Good bye." Ed whimpered before continuing towards the gathered troops.

The crowd's gasps of fear as they backed away from the insane alchemist were ignored by Edward as he stormed into the group of people, getting lost in the torrent if faces.

"Edward... EDWARD!" He shouted, sprinting off after him. He wasn't about to let another one of his best friends die, he must protect Ed from himself

* * *

Dun Dun DUNNNN!


	5. Chapter 5

(in response to Bluefire21guest's review: I know Roy is supposed to be blind, but then this chapter (and half the story) wouldn't work out at all as I planned. I agree with you, though. I should have written something to explain why Roy still has his sight. I'm sorry. But what's kinda funny is that I actually put an author's note in this chapter when I wrote it explaining why xD so I guess you're gonna have two explanations.) (Oh! And I hope you get better! :3 keep reading that kindle!)

* * *

I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

- chapter 5

* * *

- Edward

'You idiot... Your a homunculus now! How do you expect to kill yourself?' The little voice in Ed's mind said coldly.

"I know... But I don't actually plan on dying." Ed said aloud to the voice, pacing around in a deep alley. It was raining, no, POURING out. It soaked Edward to the bone until he shivered from the cold.

'But you can't live without your family, remember?' the voice taunted.

"I can't live without them. And I can't live with them in fear of hurting everyone." Ed said to himself. "but I can't die... So I'll allow them to think Im dead. Then I will do what Truth said, watch them from the shadows, away from the temptation to kill my friends. If they knew I was alive, they'd try to find me and I'd end up murdering them..." Ed decided.

(Cheesiest explanation ever... Meh, oh well. I hate suicidal stuffs anyway so it's gonna sound super stupid. :I)

'I don't think this will work...' The voice replied.

"Who asked you? Your just my conscience." Ed mumbled. He shook his head with a small, sad chuckle. "I must be going crazy, I'm talking to myself." he frowned and a dark look passed over his eyes. "I'd better get used to being alone... I can't be with people anymore..."

A shout and the pounding if footsteps signaled the arrival of the search party the military probably sent. Ed stood and turned towards the brick wall of a crumbling abandoned building that made up the side of the alley.

Ed glanced at the entrance of the alley, the soldiers were running across the street opposite of the road. They haven't spotted him yet. Good.

Ed waited until the soldiers were quite a distance away. He glanced down at his flesh palm and scratched it with his metal one. He winced at the pain but he had to know for sure. The shallow scrape bled slightly, dripping off Ed's hand and onto the rain-soaked ground. Sure enough, tiny red alchemic sparks flashed and the tiny wound was healed.

"Dammit..." Ed hissed. "I really am a homunculus..." He was hoping that he wasn't, and that he was just going crazy. But it seemed that both are true. "Well... Let's hope I survive this and Roy leaves me alone for a while so I can escape..." Ed mused.

He turned to one side of the alley and looked up at the tall brick wall. 'Here we go...' Edward clapped his hands together and slammed them on the ground. A spike of stone shot out if the brick wall and headed straight for Edward's heart.

'Shit, this is gonna hurt, isn't it?!' Ed thought.

(Okay... I know Homunculi aren't supposed to be able to preform alchemy... But Ed isn't a normal homunculus. and I wanted him to still have his alchemy. :3)

* * *

- Roy

Roy was searching everywhere. But that damn brat was nowhere to be found! He cursed every time they look into a potential hiding spot but found no short blonde alchemist within.

Roy was getting worried. What if Ed was serious about ending his own life? Surely Fullmetal wouldn't do something like that! his brother would be devastated. Good thing Al stayed behind with Izumi at headquarters. (Or at least what was left of headquarters.) Mustang didn't want Al to see what they found if Ed was serious about what he said.

"Search the east side, I'll take the west!" Roy commanded his troops. 'These city ruins are like a maze, I hope none of my men get lo-'

An ear-piercing shriek of agony echoed loudly through the crumbled buildings, cutting off Mustang's thoughts. Red alchemical light sparked somewhere up ahead.

"SHIT! that was Edward! It sounded like it came from over there!" Roy shouted, sprinting off in the indicated direction. 'Dammit you little bastard, don't you dare leave us! We are your family now, and a family looks out for each other!' Roy thought desperately.

Smaller flashes of alchemic light flickered as the reaction ended. The dim red lights guided Roy to his destination. But with each second of silence, Mustang felt more and more scared of what he would find. The scream he heard before was suddenly cut off and it has been quiet ever since...

"C-Co...Colonel!" A young soldier cried as he stumbled over to Roy. his eyes were wide and his body trembled in terror.

"What is it?"

"O-Over the-there..." The soldier gasped, pointing at an alleyway farther ahead with a trembling finger. "B...Be careful... It-It's horrible... So horrible..."

Roy stopped walking and looked down at the young soldier. He looked absolutely horrified and traumatized. Whatever he saw really must be scary. If it had something to do with Ed, then it will be terrifying for Roy...

Mustang slowly approached the alley cautiously. A few soldiers had gathered around the entrance to the alley, staring down at something in absolute horror. Roy gulped and took a deep breath before pushing the soldiers aside to see what waited for him.

Roy's face immediately paled and he felt sick to his stomach.

What waited for him was hell.

Edward Elric was dead.

Random A/N:  
(I know Roy is supposed to be blind right now but just roll with it, k? And it's gonna get pretty dark here. I wanted to write a dark 'n horrifying fic for once. I never write stuff like this... so it has been interesting to say the least. Kinda fun but not something I'd do often, it's too morbid for my taste. I think I over did it tho... Meh. Don't like, don't read.)

Edward was lying on the pavement with an ever-growing puddle of blood around him. The rain washed away the scarlet liquid in streams, flowing into the storm drains on the side of the road. The blood was fed by a huge wound in Ed's chest, right where his heart was.

Roy was frozen in horror. He couldn't move his eyes away from his precious subordinate's bloody and mangled body.

'Fullmetal is dead... Edward is dead... Edward Elric, hero of the people, is dead...' Roy's thoughts spun, trying to wrap his mind around the situation. 'The boy who I considered my SON is dead...'  
that hit it home.

The full realization of the situation hit Roy like a ton of bricks. He clenched his fist over his ignition glove, teeth clamped shut. "Soldiers..." Roy hissed. The troops snapped out of shock and saluted their commanding officer. "Get out. I would like to have a moment to myself..." He said in a quiet and deadly voice.

The troops didn't waste any time, they hightailed it outta there. They knew how close the colonel and the boy were. Although both denied it, the two were actually really close friends who relied on each other.

Roy stared at the blood-spattered ground, watching the rain wash away the red liquid. his fists were still clenched in anger and grief.

'Why did this have to happen?' Roy asked himself. 'And to Fullmetal of all people?! He just saved us all from that Father bastard. Why couldn't Truth be reasonable for once? Seriously, taking away a teenager's sanity as payment!?' Roy frowned and narrowed his eyes in thought. 'I don't think that was all that was wrong with Fullmetal... I think he wasn't telling us everything...'

Roy sadly looked back at Edward while resisting the urge to vomit. With a heavy heart, Mustang slowly walked over to his youngest subordinate. The boy's mangled body was completely lifeless and still. Roy reached down and lifted the dead teen in his arms, ignoring the thick blood that seeped into his uniform and cringing at the feeling of Ed's cold body.

Mustang has seen plenty of dead people, hundreds from the Ishval massacre. So seeing Edward dead should be just as easy, right? Hell no. The fact that Roy couldn't protect edward, couldn't save him, it painfully tore his heart to pieces.

It was odd for Mustang to see Edward so motionless. The boy was always so determined and strong that Roy never imagined he could look so defeated and lifeless...

* * *

- Ed

(Dis is gonna be cheeseh and supah far-fetched... Just a warning. :I)

In Edward's mind, though, He was very much alive. He was working hard to keep his Philosopher's stone from healing the massive wound and staying perfectly motionless. Luckily, the rain had cooled his body down enough to make him feel dead. At least he hasn't gone insane and try to kill Roy yet.

It was a good thing Homunculi don't need a heart or lungs to function for long periods of time. So a pulse check would pronounce him dead. The only thing he had to worry about now was to keep his sanity in check.

* * *

- Roy

Roy couldn't look at Edward's face, He forced himself not to. It was hard enough for him to keep himself from throwing up, but seeing the boy's face would certainly make the colonel break down. The once-lively young teen who could take anything and survive and cope like an adult was now a broken, lifeless shell of what he used to be.

It had physically pained Mustang to see the boy so terrified and miserable to even suggest taking his own life to protect his family and friends. But now that Edward actually succeeded fulfilling his goal, the pain was unbearable for Roy.

He staggered out of the dark alley with the poor boy in his arms. Roy's military shirt was now completely soaked in Edward's blood, but he didn't care.

The other soldiers glanced up to look at their Colonel. They collectively gasped in shock and horror at the sight of Edward. Some even fainted.

Roy ignored everybody else and kept walking in a straight line emotionlessly. The eyes of his troops burned into his back as he walked towards a relatively stable building that was farther away. The soldiers knew the colonel was going to hide away and grieve like he did when Hughes died.

They were right. Roy stumbled into the dark building and looked around. It was an old office building that was now destroyed and deserted because of the battle with Father. Roy shuddered at the memory of that damn battle. Father had done something to Ed, Roy knew it.

Mustang sat down on a couch in the corner of the small building. He forced his heart to stop beating so fast and willed his breathing to slow as well.

Author's note  
*(This part is really sad and contains a butt load of parental Roy/Ed. ;m;)  
*(and is also kinda awkwardly written... That's probably just me being paranoid. I am afraid that my readers wouldn't approve of this story. But I'm trying to do something different for any followers who like this kinda stuff although it's not exactly my cup of tea. The parental Roy/Ed is definitely my cup of tea, don't get me wrong, but the whole morbid n' darkness is not.)*

Roy looked down at the bloody bundle in his arms. His heart clenched painfully at the sight of Edward's mangled body. Mustang slowly looked around to see if any of his troops followed him inside. It was just as quiet and still as the dead teenager in Mustang's arms.

With nobody there to witness Roy's moment of weakness, he broke down. The tears that he had forced not to fall before now spilled down his cheeks in streams. His body was racked with shaking sobs as he trembled in grief.

"I'm so sorry..." Roy whimpered. "I'm so, so sorry Fullmetal... This should have never happened... If only I had done a better job protecting you and your brother, maybe you would at least have a bit of the happy life you deserved..." Mustang sobbed.

Roy took a shuddering breath and lowered his voice. "If only I had helped fill the void that was left by your bastard father... I-I could have taken care of you, but it never happened... And look where it's gotten us. I'll... I'll n-never see you again... I wish I was able to help you during all those times you needed me that I so foolishly ignored. But... It's too late now... I'm s-sorry Fullmetal... I'll miss you... son." Roy's voice cut out and he simply bowed his head, letting the tears fall freely.

(:C sad...)

- Ed

In Edward's mind, this was confusing. He couldn't see since his eyes were closed and he didn't dare open them, but he knew Roy had carried him into some building... alone. At first Ed was slightly worried.

'what was the proper burial for a soldier killed in action? Not cremation I hope!'

But then Ed realized Roy had sat down and was now simply holding Ed in silence. 'What was the bastard colonel up to? Is he here to grieve?' the thought crossed his mind but Ed didn't believe it, Roy wouldn't care that much about him. All Ed has been is a thorn in his side for years.

But then Roy started crying. Edward could feel his tears before Roy actually started to choke with sadness. At first Ed didn't believe it. the almighty flame alchemist was CRYING?! Instead of feeling smug and the need to tease the colonel about it, Edward felt terrible. It pained Ed physically and mentally to know that HE was causing Roy so much grief.

*"Im so sorry..."

'Wait, now Roy is apologizing?! For what?! And what's more, he's talking to a dead person! Kinda weird...'

*"I'm so, so sorry Fullmetal... This should have never happened... If only I had done a better job protecting you and your brother, maybe you would have at least a bit of the happy life you deserve..."

'Wait... He's been trying to protect me? But he's a jerk AND my boss, why should he care?"

*"if only I had helped fill the void that was left by your bastard father... I-I could have taken care of you, but it never happened... And look where it's gotten us... I'll... I'll n-never see you again... I wish I was able to help you during all those times you needed me but I so foolishly ignored. But... It's too late now... I'm s-sorry Fullmetal... I'll miss you... son."

'Wh...What...? Roy... Thinks of me as his... Son? B-But... He's not my father! N-Not that I'm opposed to the idea... It's all just so confusing...'

* * *

- Riza

'Roy has been gone for three hours... Maybe I should go check on him. Maybe he found Edward.' Hawkeye thought. She turned and looked at the Elric's teacher. She was helping Alphonse get used to having a body again. "Hey mrs. Curtis, I'm going to go check on the colonel."

Izumi looked up and smiled warmly at Riza. "Please, just Izumi is fine. Go right ahead, we should be alright here."

Riza nodded and began to walk towards the city's ruins where Roy had gone to find Ed. She had a bad feeling... something had gone wrong. Riza walked faster into the ruins.

She saw the troops stationed in where a park would have been if the neighborhood wasn't in ruins.

"Hey!" Riza called. A few soldiers looked up while others looked like they were sick. "Has anyone seen the colonel!?" The soldiers gave her a grim look and pointed at a tall building off to the side of the road. "Thanks!" She called as she ran towards the structure.

The sinking feeling grew as she came closer to the office building. She approached it cautiously and placed her hand on her gun just in case. She stuck her head inside the doorway and looked around. She spotted Roy sitting on a couch with his back to her. He seemed to be holding something in his arms and talking to himself quietly.

Riza was about to call out the colonel's name when she heard a bit of his conversation.

"If only I had done a better job protecting you and your brother, maybe you would at least have a bit of the happy life you deserve..." Riza heard the colonel whimper.

Hawkeye was taken aback. She had never heard Roy talk like that to anyone before. She could tell he was crying, and she has only seen Roy cry once in her life. That was during Hughes's funeral. Riza stopped thinking about it and listened to more of Roy's words.

"if only I had helped fill the void that was left by your bastard father... I-I could have taken care of you, but it never happened... And look where it's gotten us... I'll n-never see you again... I wish I was able to help you during all those times you needed me but I so foolishly ignored. But... It's too late now... I'm s-sorry Fullmetal... I'll miss you..." Roy added something inaudible at the end and bowed his head, his sobs making his body tremble.

It was hard to keep her stoic stature after witnessing... That. But Riza held firm. She waited a few minutes before approaching Roy. She focused her eyes away from the scarlet-splotched body in his arms.

"Colonel." She said, saluting her commanding officer.

"Yes?" Roy answered flatly.

"When shall we be moving out sir?"

"as soon as Alphonse is okay with traveling. We must go to the headquarters in east city. But we are going to have to find some extremely talented alchemists to help Armstrong repair the damage done to central headquarters..." Roy sighed. He took a shuddering breath and stood up, still holding Edward in his arms but had his back to Riza. "That might be a challenge... You know we were hoping that Armstrong and Fullm- ... H-He would fix it."

"Yes sir." Riza said.

She stole a glance at Edward, stifling a gasp of horror at the sight of the boy. She quickly shook it off. There would be time for grief later.

* * *

(I used that scene way too much. :I it was just too sad and epic to leave alone OmO... Don't judge me!)

A review would be nice! :3


	6. Chapter 6

(I don't like this chapter. It's weird and kinda awkward in my opinion. I don't think it came out as good as I had planned. Oh well. This whole story is basically me experimenting with the whole dark n' sad fics anyway. So far it's been going pretty good but angsty and sad things aren't my specialty as I've said several times..)

* * *

I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

- Chapter 6

~~~~~~~~~

* * *

"Great, just great..." Ed groaned aloud. At least he could move and actually act ALIVE again. But now he was on a train headed for east city in a freaking casket. "I feel like a vampire..."

Edward was NOT happy. At all. Not only is his funeral being held  
In easy city but he also had to witness his little brother's reaction to his death not too long ago. It. Was. Not. Fun.

But he couldn't worry about that now. What he needed to worry about was his funeral in general. Obviously he can't be buried alive! Ed might actually have to make a replica of himself. Also. Not. Gonna. Be. Fun. :C

Not that Ed couldn't do it, of course he could make an exact replica of himself with 100% accuracy both in appearance and biologically. It would just seem so... Creepy to create another Ed.

"Better get outta this stuffy thing." Ed mumbled to himself. He quietly clapped his hands and pressed them to the sides of his container. A small hole opened up. Ed peeked through it to make sure nobody else was around. Nope, nobody there.

Ed swung the top open and leaped out. "Jeez! My neck is gonna be sore forever!" He groaned, stretching his neck out. "I'd feel sorry for people who have to lay in those things but they are usually dead sooo... No sympathy there." He said to himself.

He rubbed his chest where he was impaled. "Jeez... I gotta be more gentle when faking my death next time. That hurt like hell, it still does. But I can't heal it yet, I need to make a decoy that looks exactly the same." He said.

Edward sighed and picked his way around luggage to get to the other side if the train car. He opened the back door and was met with a face full of wind. "Dammit! This is the very back car?! Just my luck."

Ed closed the door and turned back around. The next car over is a passenger's car and it would be a REALLY bad idea to go walking through a public place with a freaking hole in your chest.

"Only one way forward. Up."

Edward opened the back door again and climbed the ladder on the side. The wind threatened to blow his small body away but he held tightly to the railing and slowly moved forward.

Suddenly, a railroad sign flashed up ahead. 'Shit!' Ed cursed in his mind. The sign flew closer above the train, only a small gap was between the top of the train and the cold metal of the sign. Ed ducked his head and clung to the train as the sign flew over him.

'SHIT!' Ed's thoughts screamed as he felt his hands slipping. The wind current the sign made when it swung by was blowing him away. 'No, No!'

his arms slid from the railing and he felt his body begin to fall backward. Ed swung his flesh hand back down to the metal of the train in one last effort. But what good would that do?!

The sound of screeching metal pierced his ears and he felt his body stop falling. Ed looked down at his hand in shock. His whole forearm was covered in a hard grey substance that looked horrifyingly familiar. His fingertips were sharp and curved like claws, now piercing the metal and griping the train.

"T-The Ultimate S-Shield?!" Ed croaked in disbelief, examining his arm. A look of determination replaced his shock and he pressed forward, using his carbon-strengthened arm to haul himself faster.

'Which Homunculus am I? If I have the ultimate shield, am I Greed? But I don't feel greedy... Oh that's right, Father wasn't able to transfer his soul into me, leaving just my soul and his Philosopher's Stone.' Ed thought. 'Better shut up and keep going.'

* * *

(Time passing.)

(I still think this chapter is a bit too awkward...)

* * *

'Still feels weird to make myself using alchemy... A statue is fine, but knowing that others will have to believe it's me is just a weird thought...' Ed said to himself.

Ed's mood darkened and he looked at the ground in shame. 'They care about me... I know they do... Er- did. And now I'm making all of my friends think I'm dead... It must be hard for them... It's hard for me to leave them, but it's the only way to protect them from myself...'

Ed shook his head and put a determined look on his face. 'I will continue to protect my friends even if I'm a homunculus... It doesn't matter if they are human and I'm not, I still CARE about them.' he thought.

Ed turned away and let himself relax. Red alchemical light sparked around him, and the massive wound in his chest healed. It was quite hard to keep himself from healing it in the first place.

He noticed an ouroboros tattoo for the first time. it was on his chest where his heart would be. 'Hm... I even have this stupid thing? Great. Another reminder of what I've become...' Ed groaned.

A noise interrupted Edward's thoughts, the clanking if a metal door. Ed yelped and leaped into the shadows. The darkness concealed him perfectly, making him look nearly invisible if it weren't for his shining gold eyes.

A man wearing a uniform poked his head into the car and looked around. "I could have swore I heard something..." He murmured. He shrugged and closed the door.

"That was close..." Ed murmured to himself.

* * *

- Roy

(MEANWHILE! :D)

The private train car that held Roy's team was silent and seemed to be filled with grief and sadness, darkening the mood further.

Hawkeye, Mustang, Havoc, Breda, Falman, Furey, Armstrong, and Alphonse were the only people in the whole car. All if them were silent except for Alphonse who was still letting out tiny strangled sobs.

Roy stared out the window, his black hair shadowing his expression and his eyes. Riza stayed emotionless, but her sadness was obvious. Havoc, Breda, and Falman were silently staring off into a depressed nothingness. Armstrong and Furey were recovering from their previous actions, crying their eyes out.

Finally, Roy shattered the silence. "Alphonse..." he murmured. The boy didn't move. "I think it'd be best if you are kept under military protection. You need medical attention too."

Al slowly looked up and scowled at Roy, anger burning in his bronze eyes. "That's not the reason you want to keep an eye on me and you know it." He spat. "You want to make sure I don't try to bring brother back with alchemy!"

Roy only blinked, his expression betraying nothing. "No. Its not that. I'm worried about you, I don't want you to suffer. Edward wouldn't have wanted you to spend the rest of your life grieving." He said calmly.

Al flinched and bowed his head. "Why... Why did he do it... Ed knew I would be miserable without him, what did he give up that caused him to take his own life? I don't understand..." He whimpered.

Roy sighed and stood up. He walked quietly over to the younger Elric and sat beside him. "Al, your brother gave up something that shouldn't EVER be taken from anyone no matter what they did wrong. Truth took Edward's sanity away from him in exchange for your soul and body. at least, that's what Ed told us. But I think something else was happening but he decided not to tell. You saw how he acted, he nearly killed me and your teacher. Ed realized that his very existence would endanger his friends' lives. So... So he choose to die instead of risk murdering everyone he cared about."

"But he knew it would hurt his family... It would hurt me. He decided to abandon me!" Al sobbed, clenching his fist angrily.

"Alphonse... I'm sorry. I know how you feel..."

"No you don't..." Al hissed. "You've never liked Brother, never cared about him."

Roy was truly hurt by Alphonse's words. "No. I did care about Ed, more than you could imagine and much more than I am able to admit. I cared about both of you, and I will continue to care for you even though Edward is gone. You may not know it, but I always considered you two my... m-my..." Roy trailed off and shut his mouth. He was afraid to admit how he felt about the two brothers. To Roy it was one of his biggest strengths, the thought of those two determined children helped him remember what he was fighting for. but he was afraid that others would see it as a weakness. "It...It's hard to explain..." He finally sighed.

Al scowled at Roy when he refused to finish talking. "I knew it. You never really cared what happened to Ed." He growled. Roy didn't respond and stared at the floor.

"Alphonse." Hawkeye said suddenly, appearing next to the two alchemists. Al looked up at her questioningly. "What the Colonel is trying to say is that he feels as though you and Ed were family. Not simply his subordinate and his subordinate's brother, but something akin to his sons." She said calmly.

Al looked at Riza and then at Roy in shock. Roy was staring at the lieutenant in surprise and slight horror. "H-Hawkeye... You... Heard that?" He stuttered.

Riza straightened up and saluted. "I apologize for eavesdropping, sir." she said professionally. "But I was looking for you and when I found you alone in that building talking to yourself, I... I couldn't make myself leave after listening to what you were saying. If it helps, sir, I feel proud to serve under someone like you." Riza said.

Roy blinked slowly and sighed. "Don't apologize. Someone was bound to find out sooner or later. I'm just glad it was you..."

Riza sighed and shook her head sadly. "Sir, you know admitting to something like that does not make you weak. In fact, my respect for you deepened greatly."

"I know..." Mustang sighed. His eyes became dark and full of despair. "I just wish I could have told Fullmetal how I felt in person... But n-now he's gone... A-And he won't be coming back..." Roy whispered, burying his face in his arms.

Alphonse placed his hand on Roy's shoulder and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, Colonel... I didn't mean what I said. I know you care about us. but I just feel so alone right now..." Al murmured.

Roy reached his arm over and gave the thin boy a gentle hug. "I'm sorry too. I know you won't make that mistake again and try to bring your brother back to life..." He sighed.

'He better not...' A quiet voice whispered.

"Huh?" Roy looked around but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

If he had been a second earlier Roy might have seen Edward's hair whip out of sight in the skylight window. 'Dammit...' Ed hissed extra quietly. 'That was too close... Again.'

-

* * *

(he hee... :3 Eddy be creepin'. He's a creeper :P. Or a stalker. But he's gonna be creeping for quite a while so get used to it. o3o also, the story gets much less dark from here on. It's still gonna be a bit angsty, but hey, I'm trying to write something different from the happy-ish actiony stories I usually write. At least it'll be kinda funny in the story now. Lemme tell ya, a pissed off Roy is fun to write, but a sad Roy is not fun to write. :C it's kinda cool, but not fun.)


	7. Chapter 7

I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

- Chapter 7

* * *

"Okay, this is NOT fun... It's terrible!" A VERY unhappy Edward sighed.

He was perched precariously in a tall tree, watching his own military funeral from up high. Ed found out that he could move extremely quickly now without much effort. Seriously, he could move inhumanly fast... Well he isn't human anymore so it makes sense.

(Sloth. :3 Ed doesn't know about Sloth's power so he uses it without meaning too)

And he was right, this was NOT fun. Try watching your own friends grieve over your own death! And try surviving it when you know you are putting them through this yourself... At least Ed hasn't tried to kill anyone.

A military funeral isn't very long or complicated. They just do the whole soldier honor things n' drop ya down a hole n' leave. (:P JK) So Ed thought it wouldn't be so hard to watch. He was wrong, very wrong.

Several times Ed has almost fallen out of that tree, to run away and not have to watch his best friends grieve. But he had to stay, he'd heard that there would be extremists or terrorists attending to try and assassinate the higher ups that were also present.

It was almost over, thank goodness. But Ed couldn't shake the feeling of dread. Maybe there was a terrorist here... But how can Ed stop them if he doesn't know who it is?!

"Wait..." Ed whispered. He could sense someone who didn't belong. It was as if he could see right into their soul. "The ultimate eye?" Ed gasped.

He focused his sight on each person, studying them closely until he knew what their intentions were. Sure enough, one guy seemed to be standing around doing nothing, just waiting for something to happen. Ed had a bad feeling about this guy...

'You better not be doing what I think you're doing...' Ed thought. Then he saw a tiny flash of metal shine from the guy's coat. A gun. 'Shit! You bastard, you are an extremist! But what the hell do I do?! I can't alert the military, I'd be seen. But I can't just attack the guy either.'

Ed suddenly smiled an evil-looking grin and quietly laughed. (as you know, an Ed with an idea is very dangerous and destructive. But hey, isn't Edward always like that?)

'if I have the ultimate shield and the ultimate eye... Do I have Pride or Envy's powers?' he asked himself. 'Lust's power is kinda weird but can be useful... What about Glut-' Ed's eye twitched. "nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, SO MUCH NOPE!"

(I love that part XD. also, get that reference :3)

Ed looked at the terrorist again. he was approaching Roy, who was talking to some higher-ups. The man's hand moved down to where his gun hid beneath his jacket. Ed's breath caught in his throat. "Shit!"

Mustang didn't notice the danger and continued to talk to some other soldiers. Luckily, the extremist still had quite a distance to walk before he reached Roy.

Ed didn't waste any time. as soon as the man walked near a dark cluster of trees and bushes, Edward closed his eyes and concentrated. The shadows cast by the trees darkened and stretched like snakes. The terrorist let out a quiet gasp before he was dragged into the trees.

Ed grinned and leaped from the tree, moving so quickly he only appeared as a blur. He stepped into the thick bushes and approached the struggling terrorist. Even though it was too dark in the trees Ed kept his head ducked in case he was recognized.

"What's with the gun? You do realize you are at a funeral, right? And you obviously aren't from the military." Edward said coldly.

"You damn brat, let me go!" the man snarled.

Edward frowned and flicked his hand. the shadows immediately responded to the movement and wrapped themselves tighter around the extremist. "I would keep my voice down if I were you. Now tell me, why do you have a gun? And don't say to help protect the others. Don't you know there is already a bunch of soldiers here who have guns? Even though they were for the honor ceremony, they are used as protection too."

The man's eyes widened slightly in fear but kept a scowl on his face. "You're with the military, aren't you?! We will not allow your government continue to start pointless wars and slaughter innocent people!"

Edward scowled and tool a step closer. "I'm not from the military, you bastard. And also, the government isn't corrupted anymore! What do you think was going on in central recently?! That wasn't a pointless war, it was to destroy the corruption in the government!" Ed hissed.

"You really believe that?" The man sneered. "They are just making up an excuse to turn the citizens away from the truth!"

Edward clenched his teeth to keep himself from kicking the guy in the face. "I know because I was THERE. You have no idea how much this military had to give up just to defend their country, they had to turn on their own führer to stop the corruption. You damn extremists just don't want to admit that your so-called 'noble cause' is no longer there, so you bastards made up reasons to continue. you shouldn't be talking about excuses, especially with me here. I've seen more betrayal and damn lies than no living person should ever endure." Edward growled, reaching down and grabbing the gun from the man's jacket. "Now get out of my sight before I do something to you I'd rather not do at a funeral." the shadows unwrapped themselves from the terrorist and dropped him to the ground.

When the man made no move to leave, Ed became even more pissed. "Now!" he snarled in a distorted and demonic voice. The shadows that surrounded the two suddenly gained a horrifying detail. Red eyes opened along the darkness and grinned with creepy jagged teeth. The man gasped in terror and staggered away into the surrounding forest.

Ed sighed and let himself relax. 'That bastard better tell his terrorist buddies...' the dark snake-like tendrils shrank back into the normal shadow of the trees.

Edward looked back out at the gathered military. they were now leaving. "At least I didn't try to murder that bastard... And thank goodness this whole thing is over." he sighed.

Edward stood up and looked down at the small gun in his automail hand. 'This damn gun could have been used to kill Roy... They need me here, I don't care if it's a childish thought, I will protect my friends.' he stated. Ed closed his metal fist around the gun, crushing it. He dropped it on the grass and walked away into the trees.

* * *

(I know what you are thinking, "Sapphire?! three chapters in ONE day?! what is this sorcery?!" but this story will be updated on a daily basis and maybe more than one chapter will be posted per day. at least until i catch up with what I have already written...)

*(ready for some crack-tastic alternate scene thingamajig?! No? TOO BAD! I thought of this after watching Nullmetal alchemist. :3 you should know what that is. If not, LOOK IT UP! YOU WILL LAUGH YOUR FACES OFF! It's magically delicious!)*

Cracktastic adventure!

* * *

Edward glared down at the terrorist from his perch. "You better not do the thing..." Ed hissed.

The man suddenly began walking towards Roy Mustang, his hands reaching for the hidden gun.

Ed scowled. "Oh, he's doing the thing!" He snarled.

The terrorist continued to advance towards Roy. He pulled the gun from it's holster and pointed it at the back of mustang's head.

Edward leaped out of the tree and sprinted at the extremist, shouting, "GET BACK HERE YOU THING DOER!"

* * *

Roy Mustang will never understand why he saw Edward (who was supposedly dead and who's funeral he was attending) jump out of the trees and tackle a guy with a gun and beat the crap outta him while screaming about doing 'the thing.' Mustang had no idea what 'the thing' was. Nor did he want to find out.


	8. Chapter 8

(In response to Bluefire21guest: Thanks for reviewing but the way! Thanks for the compliment! I'm glad you think that how I wrote the characters reactions were realistic! I was worried that they were too OOC... Anyhoo, now I REALLY hope you get better soon! OmO I've been sick on a birthday before, and it SUCKED. I look forward to when you join fanfiction! Parental is my favorite pairing too! OuO I'm really excited for your stories, there has been quite a lack of parental fics lately... I shall read them and love them and pet them and call them George.)

* * *

I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

- Chapter 8

* * *

(Five months later :3)

"Hey Mustang, you wanted to see me?" Alphonse called through the office door. It has been nearly six months since Edward died, and Al has slowly gotten used to his brother's absence. But it still left a gaping hole in his heart that hurt more than any wound.

"Yeah, come in Alphonse." Roy's voice answered. Al entered the big office and approached the desk where Mustang sat sorting through papers with a distressed look on his face.

"What can I do for you, General?"

"Just call me Roy, there is no need for formalities."

"Oh, sorry Gen- er... Mustang."

Roy sighed and picked up a few papers. "I have called you here to talk about the recent sightings of odd happenings around central. You probably haven't heard about them since you live in Resembool. But it's quite disturbing."

"What does that have to do with me? Im not part of the military." Al asked.

Roy looked Alphonse in the eye and took a deep breath. "We have reason to believe that these happenings were caused by a homunculus."

"What!?" Al gasped in horror. "B-But that's impossible! How can you be sure?"

"We aren't sure. But people have claimed to see a young man dressed in black around the areas where the sightings have occurred. They were never able to get a good look at him so that's all we know about the guy. The most disturbing and frequent occurrence is many eyewitness accounts of a strange black material with several glowing red eyes enveloping an area. The origin of the substance is unknown but it has a striking resemblance to the homunculus Pride's power." Roy said in a serious tone.

"But we killed all of the homunculi! H-How is one still alive?!" Al exclaimed.

"I don't know. But none if these occurrences have been connected to any murders or violent attacks. They actually often happen in the areas where my soldiers are stationed..."

"Are you saying that one of your men could be a homunculus?!" Al gasped.

"No! I'm simply saying that it could be connected." Roy snapped. "None of my men could be that monstrosity!"

"Then what do you suggest?" Alphonse asked.

"I want you to stick around central for a while. You know more about homunculi than anyone in the military, so you could help us find out what the heck is going on. I'm worried that the homunculi are back." Roy said and sat down to go back to work on his paperwork. Alphonse turned around and began to leave the office. "Oh, and Al?" Roy mumbled before the boy could leave.

"Yes?"

"Be careful out there. The streets have become much more dangerous ever since Fullmetal died, just watch yourself." Roy murmured.

Al smiled and nodded. "I will, thanks General."

'Damn. That pipsqueak really was a hero of the people...' Roy thought sadly. 'The citizens felt safe with him around. But now that he's gone, more criminals have gotten confident with attacks... I just hope Al will be okay.'

* * *

-Alphonse

Al silently walked down the steps of central command. Two or three soldiers passed by and greeted him with smiles or a simple 'hello.' Al quietly returned the greetings but was really lost in thought.

'Brother must have had a bigger influence on local criminals than I first thought. I knew he was skilled at his job and completed many missions that ranged from petty thieves to mass murderers. I guess he ended up making a sizable impression on the whole crime rate all over central. But it would make sense that the criminals would become more active once the powerful Fullmetal was gone.'

He sighed as he thought about his brother. The fond memories were almost unbearable to think of now. Al missed Edward so much more than anyone could understand. And the fact that Al partly blames himself for Ed's death isn't helping him cope.

Alphonse slowly walked down the sidewalk in silence with his hands in his pockets and his mind somewhere wandering farther into his painful memories.

Roy said that he could stay in the military dorm building that was nearby. but Al decided to take the long way there, even if it's a dangerous path. Usually he was cautious and observant, but the more Al thought about his brother, the more sad and slow he became. The route twisted and turned behind the tall buildings of central and through dark alleyways. It was a hotspot for criminals but Al didn't care.

He passed a particularly dark alleyway. several pairs of dark eyes watched him walk from the shadows. Al didn't notice (or simply didn't care) as five people emerged from the darkness and began to follow him from a distance, their intentions most unpleasant.

* * *

- Ed

Edward was sitting on the roof of a tall building that overlooked central command, absolutely bored out of his mind. His automail arm propped up his head as he stared at a leaf in the roof. His finger twitched, forming tiny black snake-like tendrils from the shadows that flicked at the leaf.

"There's not much to do. Al is in Resembool and all of Mustang's team are inside headquarters doing paperwork so I'm stuck out here doing nothing..." Ed murmured. He abandoned the leaf and flopped onto his back to stare at the sky. "It's only been five months and I miss everyone... At least I haven't killed anyone yet. Well there was that one time when I almost lost my mind and nearly slaughtered a guy, but other than that I've been relatively sane." Ed sighed. He drifted deeper into his thoughts as he stared at the clouds move sluggishly across the sky.

Edward suddenly jolted upright. "Is that Al?!" he gasped. Sure enough, his little brother was walking down the steps of central command. 'Whats he doing here? I guess Mustang called him in. I wonder what for...'

Alphonse started slowly walking down the road towards the dorms he and Ed used to stay when they were in central. Edward watched him leave curiously.

'Eh, he'll be fine.' Ed decided. He stood up and dusted off his black pants. 'Al hasn't gotten into any trouble yet and he's always careful.' Ed turned away and started walking to the edge of the tall building. 'I'll go to the dorm building and wait for him.' He jumped down to the building next to the one he stood on and made his way towards the dorms.

Edward quickly made it to his destination without much effort. He sat on the hotel's roof and waited for his brother.

Ten minutes went by and Al hasn't shown up. It didn't take long to travel here by foot from central command. Sure it was the farthest dorm building from HQ but it doesn't take THAT long...

'Maybe he took the long way?' the thought calmed Ed's nerves slightly, but the feeling of dread pricked at the back of his mind. 'The long way is a pretty dangerous path...' but still he waited.

The feeling of dread came back stronger. Edward couldn't stand it, "Okay, I'm going to look for him." he decided.

Ed started traveling along the rooftops above the dark alleyways, making his way back to HQ where he saw Alphonse last.

The very air seemed to be thick with danger. The gut feeling that something has gone terribly wrong was now engulfing Edward. He ran faster, leaping over the rooftops like a cat.

'Shit, where is he?!' Ed thought as he jumped over to another building and landing on all fours. He stood up and continued to sprint over the rooftops, fighting the urge to call out for his brother.

Ed could hear a commotion up ahead. "What's a kid like you doing way out here? Don't you know it's dangerous?" a male voice scoffed in the distance.

"That's probably Al!" Ed hissed, forcing himself to go even faster.

"L-Leave me alone!" A quieter voice stammered.

"Shit, it IS Al!" Ed gasped as he neared the alleyway where the voices were coming from.

Edward skidded to a halt and looked over the edge of the building he stood on, eyes widening. Five men surrounded his little brother, taunting him.

"Come on, kid, Don't be like that." The leader of the guys sneered. "We only want to have a little fun!"

"N-No!" Al gasped and tried pushing his way out, only to be shoved back by one of the men.

"What did I just say, you brat?!" The leader snarled. "Now, let's see if you have any money or anything of value." he took a step closer to Al, "We won't hurt you... Much." the men grabbed Alphonse from behind, pinning his arms behind his back.

"Get away from me!" Al gasped, kicking and struggling against the creepy thieves. His flailing leg collided with the leader's face, making him stumble backwards.

"You little shit!" The man snarled, pulling out a knife and advancing towards the struggling teen. Al's eyes widened and tried to break away from his attackers.

"ALPHONSE!" Ed snarled from up on the roof. He leaped strait into the alley and landed on the ground in front of his brother, making the thieves scatter.

"What the hell?!" The leader gasped, stumbling back against a wall in surprise. "Who are you?!"

Ed didn't answer, he simply glared a deadly golden gaze at the man.

Alphonse stared at the blonde teenager who stood facing away from him. His body trembled and his eyes were wide in disbelief. He could almost feel the rage coming off of the blonde's body in waves, it scared Al.

"You brat! Mind your own business!" The leader of the thieves shouted. He charged at Edward, knife in hand. Ed dodged the attack with ease and kneed the guy in the gut. He gasped in pain and stumbled back to the wall. "Get him!" He snarled.

Immediately, the four other thieves pulled out their own weapons and charged at Ed. The short blonde threw his arms in front of his face as one of the men swung a large knife at him. The screech of metal was heard and sparks flew from where the knife struck. Edward's arm was covered in the ultimate shield, blocking the attack. Ed swung his metal arm and punched the guy in the face, sending him flying backwards.

"Come on you lazy bastards, kill him!" Their leader snarled. The thieves all charged at once, surrounding Edward.

Ed didn't even flinch, his eyes continued to burn with the fire of rage and hatred. He lifted his arms and swung them in an arc. Black tendrils materialized from the shadows and rose around Edward like snakes. The creepy red eyes stared menacingly at the attacking thieves and grinned with jagged teeth.

Ed flicked his arm, a black shadow whipped towards a man and swatted him to the ground. A dark tendril grabbed a man by his leg and threw him into a trash can. Another shadow slammed into the leader and sent him toppling to the ground. The black material followed every move Edward made, wrapping around the attackers and tossing them aside.

Alphonse just stared as the chaos ensued, frozen in disbelief and horror. The shadows completely destroyed the area around them, flinging people around and slamming them into the concrete. Al couldn't speak, he was too terrified to call out to this blonde teen who looked so much like his brother.

"Beat it! NOW!" Edward snarled, his voice distorted and demonic. (like Seliem's voice :3) The four thieves gasped in fear and leaped up to run away. Their leader, however, slowly stood up and glared at Ed.

"Bastard, I said LEAVE!" Ed shouted again.

The man tried hiding a twisted smile and slowly began to walk towards Ed to leave the alleyway. He snickered and fished something from his pockets as he walked nearer to Ed. before Edward could react, the man laughed a sick, twisted laugh and plunged a large knife into Edward's chest.

Al gasped in horror with the tiniest hint of relief. Even though it saved him, Al was hoping that maybe this monster wasn't really his brother, so killing it would be a good thing, right?

Edward gagged and spluttered in shock, stumbling backwards into a wall, splashing blood from the knife wound onto the bricks. He panted against the pain and grasped his automail hand over the protruding end of the knife. Ed clenched his teeth, Squeezed his eyes shut, and pulled the knife from his pierced heart. He gasped in pain as the knife ripped from his flesh. Ed stayed still for a moment, his breathing slow and controlled. Red light flashed and the wound was gone.

"What?! H-How?!" The man gasped, pointing a trembling finger at the blond boy.

Edward's eyes shot open. a dark bronze had replaced the fiery golden color of his pupils. His lips twitched into a sick, twisted smile much more disturbing than the leader thief could do.

"He...hehee... heee heee haahaheeeh... EHAAAHEEEHEHE!" Edward cackled in a high pitched, distorted voice. Edward lifted the knife in his hand, still dripping with his own blood, and took a step towards the man. The thief squeaked in terror and stumbled backwards to a wall.

On the wall opposite to them, Alphonse sat in absolute horror and fear. This Edward look-alike had gone from using savage but strictly defensive attacks, to murderous intentions.

Ed slowly stalked up to the cowering man and grinned. He raised the knife and aimed for the thief's heart.

"No! S-Stop!" Alphonse gasped in horror.

Immediately, Edward froze and dropped the knife, his wide eyes flickering back to gold. He clenched his fists and stepped away from the cowering thief. The man took advantage of the delay and scrambled to his feet and sprinted away. Edward didn't make a move to stop the fleeing thief, he didn't even twitch. Ed just stood still and breathed slowly with his back to his brother.

"E...Ed?" Al whispered, voice heavy with fear and disbelief.

Edward froze at the sound of his little brother's voice, every muscle tensing.

"B-Brother? Is that you?" Al asked again. He slowly stood up on trembling legs and took a shaky step towards his brother.

Edward turned to look at Alphonse, his golden eyes wide in shock and terror. "No! Shit... Uhhh..." He stammered. Ed stepped away from Al but tripped and fell backwards onto the ground.

"Who... Who are you?! You can't be Ed..." Al whimpered, shaking his head in confusion.

Edward scrambled up to stand and run away, but his brother grabbed his black shirt before he could flee. Ed gasped and yanked himself away, tearing his shirt. He stumbled backwards and fell to the pavement again. Ed looked up at Alphonse from where he lay on the cold concrete.

Al stared down at his brother, eyes wide in shock and horror. Edward's ouroboros tattoo was exposed once Ed's shirt ripped, a visual reminder of the monster he had become.

"A tattoo? So... You're a homunculus?! But how?! W-We killed all of you guys!" Al gasped. Edward's eyes widened and he tried to scramble away again.

"W-Wait!" Al shouted after the fleeing blonde. Edward ignored the command and kept running. All he could think about was getting away before he hurt himself or his brother.

A flash of blue light from somewhere behind him warned Ed of the danger before it was upon him. But it was only a split second before he felt a solid material slam into his body with tons of force, sending him flying towards the side of the alley. Ed gasped in shock and pain as his body crashed into the brick wall with a sickening crack and dropped to the ground in a heap.

Ed heard his brother's footsteps as Al ran over to where he was sprawled on the hard pavement. The younger slammed his hands on the ground and light sparked. All Ed could do was gasp as the concrete rose around him and pinned his body against the brick wall. Alphonse grabbed hold of Ed's shirt and yanked his head up to look at the younger Elric.

"Who are you?!" Al snarled. "Why do you have that tattoo?! And why do you look like my brother?!"

Edward's eyes widened in fear and he shied away from his brother's fury. "I..." he rasped. But a hacking cough shook his body and blood streamed from his mouth. The alchemy Al used to attack him must have done more damage than he'd first thought. Maybe a crushed ribcage...

Al's eyes flashed in sympathy, almost looking apologetic. he didn't mean to use that much force in his alchemy. But the look was gone in an instant, replaced by rage again. "Answer me!" He snarled and yanked at the wounded teen's shoulders in anger. The violent movement agitated some of Ed's broken bones and sent waves of piercing agony into his brain.

"A-Al... Stop... Your hurting me.." Ed whimpered, spitting up more blood.

"H...How do you know my name?" Al whispered, letting go of his 'brother' and taking a step back. He gasped as red alchemical light flared around Ed's body. Ed coughed again but this time no blood came out. "Y-You ARE a homunculus! But you look like my brother... Are you Envy?! But Envy's dead!"

Edward took a deep breath and shifted uncomfortably against the stone that pinned him against the wall. "Al, I..." Ed started, but stopped and closed his mouth. 'What the hell do I say?!' he thought, 'I can't say I'm NOT his brother, he would tell the military about me and they would hunt me down and kill me! But if I tell Al who I really am, he wouldn't leave me alone and I might murder him on accident! Gah! What the hell do I do?!'

"You didn't answer my questions, who the hell are you?!" Al hissed.

Ed looked up at his brother and sighed. "I'm your brother, Al."

"No you're not! My brother is dead! And plus, my brother isn't a monster like you!" Al shouted.

Edward flinched at the 'monster' comment and stared at the ground in shame. "You're right... I am a monster... But I'm telling the truth! I'm Edward Elric, your brother, I swear!"

"But Edward isn't, er- wasn't a homunculus!"

"I wish I wasn't, Al, but it's true. Father turned me into a homunculus before he died. As a result I went insane and tried to kill teacher and Mustang, remember? And I nearly killed that guy a few minutes ago too... I'm a murderous monster, just like you said. But that won't stop me from protecting my family..." Ed murmured.

Al stared down at his brother, trying to decide. "I don't believe you." he stated.

Edward sighed in frustration and tried to think of a way to get Al to believe him. "R-Remember when we made Winry a doll and she freaked out? That was one of our first attempts at alchemy. A-And that one time we fought over who would marry Winry? And how you would always run away and sit by the river when You got upset? It's ME, Al! You gotta believe me..." Ed begged, eyes shining hopefully.

Alphonse took a step away from Edward and shook his head as if to clear it. "But... I saw his body... He died..." Al whimpered, crumpling to the ground. He clapped his hands and touched the pavement. The restraints were deconstructed around Edward. Ed looked confused for a second before standing up.

"Al... I had to make you believe I died. You and everybody else would have gone after me if I just ran away. And then I would have murdered them if they found me! I don't want to hurt my friends, and I don't want to hurt you." Ed said softly. He crouched down in front of Al and looked his trembling brother in the eye. "Any second now I could simply snap and kill you, Al. I don't want to do that! Truth said that if I was around humans for too long I would be tempted to kill. So I've been watching from the shadows and away from the temptation. I had to watch my friends grieve over me, I had to watch them cry because of ME. But I'm here now." He murmured.

Alphonse suddenly leaped into his brother's arms, surprising Edward. "Oh, Brother! I was so scared... I missed you so much!" He sobbed.

Edward slowly returned the hug, finally giving in and holding his brother tightly. "I'm sorry I had to put you through all that... But I'm here now... You don't have to be alone." He murmured soothingly. Ed let go of Al and looked him in the eye, a serious look on his face. "But if I'm gonna stick around you need to promise me something." He said grimly.

"Yes?" Al murmured worriedly, a bit of fear in his voice.

"If I start to go insane, even if I'm just acting a little strange, you have to attack me. Okay?"

"W-WHAT?!" Al gasped, eyes wide in horror. "No! I can't!"

Edward tightened his grip on his brother's shoulders. "Yes, you can! I've found out that if my life is in danger, I can sometimes snap out of insanity to defend myself." he said sternly. Then his gaze softened. "Don't worry, I'm a homunculus, remember? I don't die easily. But if that doesn't work, try talking me out of it. Say my name, talk about Winry or Mustang, say something about mom, anything. The memories might help me regain my sanity. It's just a theory, but I think it'll work."

Al nodded and smiled a sad smile. He hugged Edward again. "I really missed you, Brother." He whispered.

Ed hugged him back. "I missed you too."


	9. Chapter 9

(This chapter is super short so i posted it too)

* * *

I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

- chapter 9

(I liek this chapter :3)

* * *

"So... How is it being a humunculus?" Alphonse asked.

The two brothers were in Al's dorm room, just lazying around and being bored. Edward was lying on the windowsill, swinging his leg while Al sat on the couch reading a book.

"Hm? Oh... It's not too bad I guess... At least the homunculus part. But the whole fear of going crazy and hurting someone or having to watch my friends and never be able to be with them makes it nearly unbearable." Ed sighed.

Al glanced up from the alchemy book he was reading and looked at his brother sympathetically. "But you aren't acting strange now."

"Yeah, and that's a good thing. I seem to only snap when I think about going insane and think about killing. But it also happens when I'm attacking something. If I have the chance to kill someone, my sanity will change and take advantage of that chance to spill blood." a crooked grin suddenly spread across Edward's face. "Heh... Yeah... Blood... Its color is so pretty... Red is my favorite color after all... Hehe..." He chuckled creepily.

"Brother?" Al said worriedly.

"Huh?" Ed said, eyes brightening and clearing of any insanity. "What is it?" he blinked and suddenly grimaced in frustration. "I did it again, didn't I? See? I snap when I think about it." He growled.

"Then let's not talk about that." Al said. "Back in the alley I saw you use the ultimate shield and then you used Pride's power. So can you use the others?"

"Mhm..." Ed mumbled.

"Do you have the ultimate eye?"

"Yep."

"Envy's and Lust's powers?"

"Yuppers."

Al suddenly grimaced in horror. "What about gluttony?"

"DON'T even GO there!" Ed snarled in disgust.

Al chuckled a bit. "Can I see? Have you tried changing into someone else?" He asked.

Edward shrugged. "Not really. I didn't need to, plus it's kinda weird." He replied.

"Can you at least try?"

"Fine." Ed sighed in defeat. He sat up and turned to his brother. "Who do you want me to be?"

"We've seen Envy turn into animals before, how about a bird?"

Edward hopped down from the window and dusted himself off. "Sure... I don't know if I can though. I haven't tried it before. I've only needed the ultimate eye, the ultimate shield, and Pride's power. I don't remember what Pride's was called, the ultimate something..." he said. "Here we go."

Edward took a deep breath and concentrated. At first nothing happened but then a blood red light flared around Ed, blinding Al. When the light faded, Ed was gone. Instead, an eagle sat where he once stood.

"Hm... I have both my arms -Er... Wings instead of automail..." he mumbled. "Okay... This is weird... Seriously." Edward said as he examined himself. He spread one of his wings and studied the feathers. "yeah, this is REALLY strange. It feels sooo weird to not have fingers... Or normal arms for that matter." Edward changed back into a person and coughed, a dark brown feather floating through the air. "Much better."

Al clapped his hands in applause, making Ed roll his eyes in amused annoyance. "What else can you do?" al asked excitedly.

"Well I've used the ultimate shield more than once." Ed replied, transforming the skin on his flesh arm into the nearly indestructible grey carbon. "And the ultimate eye. "And you already saw me use Pride's power." Edward suddenly looked sad and glanced at his brother shamefully. "S-Sorry you had to see that... I was just so angry at those bastards for trying to hurt you." he sighed, flopping down on the couch next to the younger Elric.

"That's okay, Brother. You did it to protect me, even though it was kinda scary... Why does your voice sound all weird when you use Pride's power?" Al asked.

Edward shrugged. "It only happens when I use the full strength of the power, that's when all those creepy eyes appear. I guess it's because they may have a connection to the Gate or something, but I don't know what that has to do with my voice.

"Hmmm... I guess so." Al mused. "What do we do now?"

Edward sighed and leaned back. "I don't know."

"What about the others? Winry, Mustang, Teacher, what about them?" Al asked innocently.

"No! T-They can't know about me. If they do, they'll try to find me! A-And if that happens, I could easily murder them without meaning too! Truth said that I can't be around humans, but I guess just one person is okay as long as I don't stress out. But being in a huge crowd of humans could be disastrous" Ed gasped.

"But brother, you're still human..."

"No, I'm not!" Ed snapped. "I'm a freaking homunculus! A monster, a killer! And there's no way to change that!"

"B-But there could! Remember how Ling returned to normal?"

"Tch, that's because his philosopher's stone was drained along with Greed's soul, leaving only Ling."

"Th-Then can't we just drain yours?"

"No! Remember Envy?! He died because his philosopher's stone was removed! He didn't have another soul like Ling did to take over his body after he died. I don't have another soul either! My own soul is merged with the stone within me, if it is removed, so is my soul. This damn stone is corrupting me, tainting my soul with all of the tortured human lives that are trapped inside it!" Ed snarled, taking a step towards Alphonse. Al stared up as his brother loomed over him.

"And THIS!" Ed hissed, showing his ouroboros tattoo. "Is just another reminder of what I could do to you, what I could do to anyone! Hehe, It's kinda funny actually. right when things were looking up, that bastard had to go and turn me into a monster! A murderous psychopathic Homunculus that can't live without killing-"

"- Alphonse?! What's going on?!" A sudden booming voice shouted from outside the room.

The door flew open with a loud crash. Edward and Al swung their heads to look.

It was Roy Mustang...

* * *

DUN DUN DUNNNN


	10. Chapter 10

Me no own FMA

-Chapter 10

* * *

Ed and Al stared at Roy Mustang in surprise. Roy stood frozen in the doorway, staring at the two boys in shock and horror.

Edward was standing over Alphonse, his ouroboros tattoo exposed on his chest. He looked like he was about to attack Al at any moment. Ed stared at Roy with wide golden eyes, at a loss for words.

Roy finally snapped out of shock and pulled out a gun. "Alphonse stand back!" He shouted, aiming the gun at Edward.

"N-No! General, stop!" Al screamed.

Too late. three loud gunshots split the air. Edward gasped in shock and stumbled away from his brother in pain as the bullets ripped into his chest. he collapsed on the ground, blood splashing the floor. Ed's breathing was fast and panicked but it soon slowed until it stopped altogether.

"Ed!" Al shrieked, running over to his wounded brother.

"Al, get away from that thing! It's a homunculus!" Roy shouted angrily.

Al wrapped his arms around Edward and lifted him up. "Come on Ed, snap out of it!" He begged, shaking his brother's shoulders and ignoring the blood that soaked into his clothes.

Edward gasped and opened his eyes. Red alchemical light sparked around his body. The gun wounds healed and his blood stopped flowing.

"Ed! Are you okay?!" Al asked worriedly.

"Y-Yeah... I'm fine..." Ed gasped, breathing heavily.

"Alphonse, what the hell are you doing?! Get away from him!" Roy snarled. He loaded his gun for another attack.

"Mustang! Stop it! He's not going to hurt us! It's really Edward!" Al snapped.

Roy growled and stomped up to the two brothers. "No he's not! It's because of these damn monsters that Fullmetal died! I'm not letting that happen again!" He snarled, pushing Al out of the way.

"No! Stop!" Al shrieked.

Edward's eyes widened in terror as Roy walked right up to him, pointing the gun down at the boy's head. Before the general could shoot him, Ed swung his arm up to protect himself. The ultimate shield stopped the bullet and gave him some time to react.

"Mustang, knock it off!" Ed gasped.

He scrambled up to stand and leaped away from the flame alchemist as another bullet flew by him. He cursed under his breath and shape-shifted into a sparrow. With his new tiny size, Ed was a harder target to hit. Edward frantically flew around the room while the enraged general shot at him repeatedly. Luckily for Ed, Roy isn't very good at shooting, only with alchemy but he left his gloves at the office.

"Roy, stop!" Ed squeaked as he swooped away from another bullet.

"Quit moving!" Roy snarled, trying to shoot the little bird.

Edward screeched in pain when a bullet grazed his wing, making him fall from the air. But as soon as he hit the floor he healed himself and shape-shifted into a squirrel.

He immediately scurried towards the couch to hide under it but Roy blocked his path and shot another round at the orange-furred rodent.

"Show us your true form, you coward!" Roy shouted.

A bullet hit Edward and sent him flying. He squeaked as his tiny body smacked a wall and fell behind a small dresser, leaving a streak of blood behind.

Roy slowly walked up to the dresser and loaded his gun again. "How many times am I going to have to kill you until you stay dead, you monster!" He snarled as he yanked the dresser away from the wall.

Mustang gasped as red light flashed and Edward's squirrel-body grew rapidly. Roy stumbled away as a huge mound of shaggy dark brown fur rose in front of him. Ed had shape-shifted into a grizzly bear and was now towering above Roy. (Even though he was still a pretty short bear :3)

"Bastard General, stop shooting at me!" Ed-bear roared, tossing his huge furry head back and bared his long fangs.

Edward grabbed Roy with his massive brown paws and pinned him to the ground. The gun was knocked from Roy's hands and slid away from him. Although Ed was careful not to hurt the general, he didn't know his own strength yet.

"A-Alphonse! Get out of here! Run!" Roy gasped from under the crushing weight of Edward's bear paws. Instead of obeying the commands, Al ran up to Ed and grabbed hold of the fur on one of the bear's arms.

"Ed, you're hurting him!" Al shouted. Edward grunted in response and tried to be gentler but still held Roy's body to the ground.

"Al, get out of here before it kills you!" Roy shouted again.

"General! He's not going to hurt us as long as we don't provoke him! His mind isn't exactly stable, one slip up and he'll try to kill us!" Al said.

"Then why aren't you attacking him if he could kill us?!" Roy snapped back.

"Bastard!" Ed growled, his voice deep and rumbling like a bear. "I'm trying not to! It's not my fault Father turned me into a freaking Homunculus before I killed him! Just calm down!"

Roy glared up at the bear with hatred shining in his black eyes. "Calm down?! I have a freaking BEAR HOMUNCULUS on top of me! Your kind are the ones who killed my best friend! And the ones who destroyed countless lives!" He snarled.

Edward hung his head in shame. "I know... I'm a monster... But I don't want to hurt you! Please, Roy! Calm down and let me explain!"

Roy glared at Ed and then looked at Alphonse. Al nodded to him and gestured to the massive bear who was still pinning the general's body to the ground.

"It looks like I don't have much of a choice..." Roy growled.

Edward sighed in relief and lifted his big paws from Roy's back. The officer slowly stood up and glared at Ed. The boy shape-shifted back into his original form and sat down on the couch.

When Roy just continued to glare at Edward hatefully, Ed became annoyed. "Come on Bastard, I'm not going to hurt you." He sighed.

Roy warily sat down in a chair that was facing the couch, farthest away from Ed and continued to glare at him. Ed shifted uncomfortably and stared back.

Mustang tensed as Alphonse settled down next to his brother. 'That THING better not do anything to harm to the boy or else he's toast' He thought.

"So, 'Edward,' care to explain what the hell is going on?!" Roy growled warily.

"Uh... General?" Al said before Edward could answer. "C-Could you try to be a little more gentle? Brother's mind isn't exactly stable at the moment."

Edward face-palmed. "Al, I don't think that's helping..." He sighed.

"Well I'll say he's not right in the mind, he's a savage homunculus!-"

"You know I'm still here, right?" Edward interrupted.

"That THING could have killed you!" Roy continued, ignoring Ed's comment.

"Okay, now that's just mean..."

"And plus, it's because of THEM Huges is dead! These monsters are the ones who caused so much bloodshed! They killed countless people!" Roy snarled.

"Uh, G-General? Could you stop talking about war-" Al whispered, but was interrupted by said general.

"It was because of the homunculi that Havoc was paralyzed! It was because of them that Ishval became a bloody massacre!"

Al nervously glanced over at Edward, who had started to twitch. "Roy, please..." Al whimpered, eyes never leaving his brother.

"And it was because of them that so many lives were ruined! So much blood was spilled! The homunculi and that Father bastard tried to kill everybody in central! It's because of THEM that Fullmetal DIED!" Roy shouted in rage.

"Heh... Hehe..." Edward chuckled, a crooked smile working it's way onto his face.

"These THINGS can't be trus- why is he staring at me like that?" Roy asked, noticing Edward's creepy laughter and malicious grin.

"heh... eheh... HEHAHEHA!" Ed laughed. His eyes were dark with insanity and his body twitched crazily.

"Damn it, General! I told you to stop talking about war!" Al shouted. He rushed over to Edward's side and grabbed Ed's shoulders.

"Al, what the hell is going on?! Get away from him!" Roy gasped.

"Come on Ed, snap out of it!" Al begged, shaking his brother's shoulders. When that didn't work, Al looked around frantically for a way to snap Ed out of his trance. "Sorry in advance, brother." Al murmured and punched Edward in the face.

Edward's hysterical laughter subsided and he shook his head, eyes clearing. He squeaked and leaped up, putting a hand to his aching jaw. "What the hell, Al?! What'd ya hit me for?!" he shouted angrily. He blinked as the realization struck him. Ed flopped back down on the couch and held his head in his hands. "It happened again, didn't it?"

"Yeah..." Al sighed.

"What happened again?! What the hell is going on?!" Roy shouted.

Al turned to glare at the general, catching Roy off guard. "Damn it, general! Next time I tell you to quit talking about death, listen to me! Brother isn't very stable, one slip up and he'll snap like he just did. But as long as he doesn't think about death, he won't try to hurt us!" Al snapped.

Roy took a step back, his eyes widening. "That looked like what Edward kept doing before he died... H-He just seemed to go crazy and attack someone."

"That's because I AM Edward, you bastard! I could have hurt you!" Ed growled. Turning to his brother he added, "Jeez Al, you can hit really hard..." he mumbled, rubbing his jaw.

"Sorry." Al laughed.

"okay, lemme get this strait... You're Fullmetal, but you're also a homunculus? How did that happen?" Roy asked.

Edward rolled his eyes. "That Father bastard put his philosopher's stone in me before I killed him. He was going to take my body from me and make it his own so he could continue to fight the military. But Greed interrupted Father before he could transfer his soul. so he only put his stone in me, turning me into a homunculus. But my soul is being corrupted by the stone. The urge to kill everyone I see keeps gnawing at the back of my mind. Truth said that if I stayed around humans, my soul would corrupt faster and make me more insane. So I ran away from you guys. If you knew I was alive you would have gone looking for me and I could have killed you. So... I left." Ed explained matter-of-factly.

Roy flopped down in the chair and held his head in his hands. "I'm confused... Why are you staying here if you could go crazy just because you are around us? Why not run away again?" he asked.

"I seem stable now. As long as I try to stay sane, I shouldn't harm anyone. as long as I'm not with loads of people, I should be fine." Ed answered.

"This is really weird... So, you're a homunculus, which means you can survive anything?" Roy asked.

Edward's expression darkened. "No, not everything. The philosopher's stone within me isn't nearly as powerful as the other homunculi's. Father was dying and his stone was nearly gone when he put it inside me. If I use it up, I die, as simple as that."

Roy suddenly looked horrified. "S-So... When I shot you... How much of the stone did that use up?!" He gasped.

Edward scowled, "Oh yeah, THANKS for that little welcome gift, by the way." he growled. "It didn't do too much damage I don't think... But damn did it HURT!"

"Oh... Sorry Fullmetal." Roy murmured.

"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, what now? What the hell are we supposed to do?" Ed asked.

"I don't know... Maybe we can try to cure your insanity? I mean, there could be a way to help that, right?" Roy suggested.

"I doubt it."

"But maybe there is a way to treat it! Doctor Marcoh might be able to do something with his medical alchemy..."

"I'd rather not. I have no idea how my philosopher's stone would react to any alchemy preformed on me."

"Good point..." Roy murmured. He trailed off into his own thoughts.

Edward sighed and leaned back into his chair. He stared around the room and tapped his finger. "This is boring..."

"Well, get over it." Roy growled. "Can I tell the others in my team about you? Riza, Havoc, Armstrong, and the others? They wouldn't tell anyone else, and plus, they could help." He asked hopefully.

"No!" Ed replied.

"Why not? They wouldn't do any harm! And it's not like you're gonna be around them very much. They are all your friends!" Roy argued.

"No."

"Come on, you're gonna need all the help you can get."

"FINE!" Ed shouted. "Jeez... But telling them doesn't mean it'll be a happy reunion, I'd rather not be around more than two people at a time. Maybe three if there's not much danger."

Roy smiled, "They'll be happy to know that you're okay, Fullmetal. After all, we are your family." He smirked at the embarrassed look Edward had before the boy turned away to hide a slight blush.

"R-Roy?" Edward murmured.

"Yes Fullmetal?"

"D-Did you really mean what you said... before..."

Mustang blinked in confusion before realizing what Edward meant. Now it was Roy's turn to look embarrassed. "Y...You heard that?" He asked softly.

"I heard all of it..." Edward murmured with a nod and continued to stare at the floor. Roy sighed and stood up. He walked over to Ed and sat down beside him.

"Yes, I meant it. I was afraid to tell you in person... I felt like it would make me seem weak if I told you the truth. But when I thought you died... I was just so scared that you were gone. I couldn't stand to see you that way, so defeated and lifeless, it really hurt." Mustang sighed.

Edward smiled slightly. "Thanks Roy... I'm sorry I put you through that. I was scared too, you know. but for a different reason. I was terrified of hurting you and Al, of hurting anyone... I'm sorry." He murmured quietly.

Roy suddenly pulled Edward into a hug. Ed jerked in surprise and stared at him in confusion.

"It's alright, Ed. You're here now, and that's all that matters." Roy said. He then let go of Edward and gave him a hard stare. "But if you tell anyone I cried that day, you're toast!" He growled.

"Okay, I won't. As long as you don't tell anyone I let you hug me just now!" Ed chuckled. "AND I won't tell anyone that you basically shot and killed your subordinate. twice!"

"Hey! I said I was sorry!"


	11. Chapter 11

(In response to Bluefire21guest: I know what you mean... xD yeah, but Roy was kinda worried about Al before that so of course he's gonna get a bit suspicious and scared when he hears someone saying 'Im a monster that can't live without killing.' in Alphonse's dorm room. Roy probably thought that a murderer was in there or something... Anyway, I'd love to be a beta for your stories! :D send me a PM using your new account when you get it!)

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I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

- chapter 11

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Roy Mustang slowly walked down a long hallway in central command. He took deep breaths to try and calm his nerves. After all, it's gonna be hard to explain what happened to a room full of soldiers who thought Edward was dead, not to mention they all HATE homunculi.

'It'll be okay... The others won't do anything too extreme, right? Well... When I found out, I freaking shot Fullmetal in the heart without hesitation! And I'm usually so calm... I just hope they don't think I'm crazy. And I hope Hawkeye doesn't have her gun...' Roy thought to himself as he approached the office door.

He opened it and peeked inside. Havoc, Hawkeye, Armstrong, Furey, Breda and Falman were sitting inside the room. The first thing Mustang noticed was the pistol on Hawkeye's belt. Roy took another deep breath and stepped into the office.

"Ahem... Uh, you've all been called here to discuss the matter of the recent homunculus sightings." Roy began. "and our fears were correct, it was a homunculus."

"What?! But how?! All seven were killed! And Edward killed father, so he can't create any more homunculi. Is there more of them?! Those demons don't deserve to live!" The soldiers gasped.

They suddenly decided to abandon the general and talk among themselves urgently.

Roy sighed and shook his head. 'This is gonna be harder than I thought.'

"How can one still be alive? The witnesses said-"

"Shut up!" Roy shouted. The soldiers immediately stopped chattering and looked up at him. "That's better. This homunculus is now under my supervision and is under control... Er- somewhat under control."

"So you caught it? Well then kill it before it escapes!" Breda interrupted.

Roy gave Breda a hard glare before continuing. "However dangerous homunculi are, I cannot destroy this one. I will not kill one of my own." Roy said cryptically.

"What do you mean one of your own? Is it one of your men?!" Furey gasped.

Roy shook his head and took a deep breath. "As you know, during the fight with father Alphonse was lost. When Ed went to get him from the Gate, he said his sanity was taken as payment. I had a front row seat to witness his insanity. He completely lost it and tried to kill me and Izumi Curtis, but each time he would regain consciousness and stop himself. Edward decided that he'd rather die than risk murdering everybody else, so he took his own life." Roy told the soldiers. An aura of sadness fell upon the room as the soldiers recalled that terrible fight.

"What does that have to do with the homunculus?" Breda asked.

Roy took another deep breath and looked at his troops. "Edward was lying. Something else happened while he was fighting Father, something he didn't tell us. During the fight, Father attacked Edward while he was trapped. Luckily, Ling Yao, Aka Greed, interrupted whatever Father was doing to Fullmetal. But the homunculus Greed's soul was destroyed in the process. Edward regained consciousness and killed Father. He then went to the gate to retrieve his brother and lost his sanity. But I don't think that's what really happened at the Gate."

"I still don't see what this has to do with that homunculus." Breda interrupted annoyingly.

Roy clenched his fists to keep himself from shouting at him. "Breda, will you please shut up so I can explain!" Mustang sighed and relaxed. "Fullmetal gave up something else. Something much more valuable than an arm or a leg. Not his sanity, but his humanity. He could no longer live with humans without the risk of murdering them. Truth is one sick bastard, making Ed have to live without his family-"

"I STILL don't see how this has ANYTHING to do with the freaking homunculus!" Breda huffed.

"OH MY GATE! Edward is a homunculus! There, happy?!" Roy shouted angrily. The room went completely silent. Roy's eyes widened when he realized what he had just done. "Um... Uhhh... Shit!"

"What... E-Ed was a homunculus?" Havoc gasped.

"But if Edward was a homunculus, how did he die?! Homunculi can't die easily!" Falman added.

"Not WAS, he IS a homunculus." Roy replied.

"Wait... Are you saying Edward is alive?! B-But if he's a homunculus then he could be dangerous!" Havoc gasped.

"Yes, Fullmetal is dangerous. But Ed isn't like the other homunculi. He's aware of himself and the danger he poses to others around him. He may be a homunculus, but he's still Edward. But his mind isn't completely... There. There's something wrong with him, something VERY wrong. And it scares Edward to no end." Roy murmured.

"Wh-What's wrong with him?" Furey asked worriedly.

"Edward can't be around people... He's terrified that he might hurt them. Ed has been very cautious about what he thinks about or what he does in fear that it might trigger his insanity. If he so much as THINKS about his state of sanity or death in general, he could snap and go on a rampage. Ed said that Truth told him to stay away from humans or else his urge to kill will intensify. The stress of a situation could worsen his mental health or trigger him to go insane at random. He's gotten it under control for the time being, but who knows how long it'll last." Roy gulped and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "And I think I only made that boy's mental state worse when I first saw him... I'm sure that little dilemma caused him to go even farther off his rocker..." Roy said nervously.

Riza's hand went down to her gun holster. "What did you do to him?!" She demanded menacingly.

Roy's eyes widened and he gulped again. "Uh... Well y-you see... When I first saw Edward, h-he was arguing with his brother in Alphonse's dorm room. I didn't hear much of their conversation but Ed was yelling about what he was capable of doing to his brother and how much it scared him but all I paid attention to was the whole "Homunculi can't live without killing" part before barging in. The first thing I saw was Edward standing over Alphonse while they were arguing. I was so shocked to see Fullmetal after believing he was dead for so long that I couldn't think strait. And then... I saw his ouroboros tattoo..."

"What did you do?!" Riza shouted, her grip tightening on her firearm.

"I-I shot him! I left my gloves in my office but I had a gun with me s-so I shot Edward! I thought it was Envy in Ed's form, so I attacked him. but when he healed himself it only deepened my suspicions of him being Envy! When he ran he shape-shifted into a bird to get away, also only worsening my suspicions. I shot him about seven times before he finally turned into a bear and pinned me to the floor. Only then was he and Alphonse able to explain everything to me." Roy said nervously.

A loud gunshot rang through the air. Roy ducked to avoid a bullet that hit the wall behind him. Riza was furious, she was breathing hard and still aimed the gun at Roy.

"You SHOT Edward?!" Riza snarled.

"H-Hawkeye! I'm sorry! I already apologized to Fullmetal! He's fine now, I swear!" Roy pleaded.

"Sir, how could you shoot your own subordinate?! I don't care if he's a homunculus, you could have killed him!" Riza said harshly.

"I know, I know! And I said I was sorry! Jeez, he basically did get me back though... Edward as a bear, no matter how short of a bear he was, is WAY too strong to be holding someone down. Seriously, my back is going to be aching for months!" Roy sighed, rubbing his back. Havoc and Breda snickered quietly in amusement.

"Sir, if Edward is alive, where is he? May we see him?" Fuery asked.

Roy's gaze darkened. "Not yet. He'd rather not be around too many people. He said that only two or three people can be around him regularly, Especially if they are his friends. Just having me and Al in the room inflicted a visible amount of difference on his mental state. Alphonse said that he's only gone dangerously insane twice since Al has been with him. The first time was when Al first saw Ed. Fullmetal had saved him from some aggressive thieves. But when the leader stabbed Ed, he went bonkers and nearly killed the guy. The second time was... Uh... Well, my doing. But the point is that when it was just Al and Ed alone, Fullmetal was stable enough. But once I showed up he had a greater risk, especially after doing THAT to him..." Roy explained grimly.

"Oh... But we can see him soon? I'd like to see if I can help in any way." Armstrong announced rather loudly.

"Shh... Could you try to keep it down? If any of the other MP's hear about Ed they might suspect something. We don't want any rumors going around so soon after the corruption in the government was destroyed." Roy hissed.

"Sorry. I'm just so happy our little Edward is alive!" Armstrong whispered. (or what he would consider a whisper... :3)

"I'm happy too, but this is a very dangerous situ-" Roy's words were cut off as the phone rang. He picked it up and greeted whoever was on the other end.

"General Mustang. You have a call coming from the military dorms. They say it's an emergency." A woman said on the other line.

"Patch it through." A soft click was heard as Roy waited for the call to transfer.

"Roy?!" Alphonse's frantic voice shouted on the other end.

"What is it Al?! What's wrong?!" Roy replied worriedly.

"I-It's Edward! Something's wrong with him! He woke up and started acting strange, please hurry!" Al gasped before the line went dead.

"What's the matter sir?" Riza asked when Roy put the phone down.

"Something is wrong with Fullmetal. Hawkeye, come with me, we may need all the help we can get." Roy commanded. He didn't wait for an answer before running out the door with Riza following close behind.

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(Dun dun duuuun! :3 okay, so this is how these frequent updates are gonna work. I'm gonna post one or two chapters at the same time and then wait a little while to post the third, k?)


	12. Chapter 12

(Sorry for the wait, guys! Dx I know i promised to post two or three chapters per day but I was packing up to move away from Sitka Alaska. HALLELUJAH! No more tiny town! I'm rambling... Aaaanyway... here ya go!)

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I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

-chapter 12

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Roy and Riza sprinted down a hallway in the dorm building. Rooms flew past as they ran. Finally, they approached Alphonse's room. A commotion could be heard from inside. It's a good thing no other MP's live on this floor or else they would be suspicious.

Roy swung open the door and quickly entered the room. The furniture was in disarray, flipped over or damaged. Papers and scraps of wood were scattered on the floor.

"Alphonse?!" Roy shouted.

"Roy! I'm in here!" Al's voice called from a bedroom. Mustang and Riza swiftly approached the door and opened it.

The room was trashed as well. scattered alchemic research papers were strewn around and the blankets on the bed were thrown aside. The dressers were toppled on the floor.

Al was standing near a corner of the room. He looked frantic and scared and his breathing was fast. Al turned to look at Roy and spotted Riza.

"L-Lieutenant! You're here too?" Al gasped.

"Al, never mind that, what happened?!" Roy shouted. Al stepped aside and looked at the corner of the room where he was standing.

They saw Edward pinned to the wall by stone restraints from the concrete wall Al made using alchemy. But it didn't look like they'd hold him forever. Ed had a creepy malicious grin on his face and his purely black, dilated eyes darted around frantically. He struggled harshly against his restraints while laughing like a maniac.

"Fullmetal!" Roy gasped. He ran up to the blonde teen and kneeled down in front of him. "Ed, can you hear me?"

Edward's eyes met Mustang's, his blackened gaze boring into his soul. Ed's creepy grin became even wider and his eyes flashed crazily.

"Well HELLO there, BASTARD!" Edward sneered in a creepily distorted voice (Like pride :3).

Roy gasped and stepped back. "H-He's never spoken before when he's like this!" He exclaimed.

"Oh, I can do more than just talk!" 'Ed' laughed.

He flicked his hand and the shadows in the room materialized into snake-like tendrils. Roy gasped and backed up as the dark material spread along the wall behind Edward. He waved his arm and the shadows sliced through his stone restraints. They clattered to the floor as Edward stood up. His black eyes flashed maliciously and he grinned.

"G-General! What the hell is happening?!" Riza gasped.

"I don't know! He's never done this before!" Roy shouted in response.

Edward smirked and took a step towards Mustang, Riza, and Alphonse. The three slowly moved back away from him as he advanced. Ed started to laugh creepily as if he was enjoying their fear.

"Edward, snap out of it! You can fight it!" Roy shouted desperately.

"Hehe, little Eddy isn't here right now!" Ed sneered. He flicked his arm and the shadows flowed from the walls, surrounding the three people with sharp black blades.

"R-Roy! What do we do?!" Al cried.

"I don't know! Has he ever done this before?!" Roy asked.

"No! Ed's never used his homunculus powers or even talked when he went insane before! He wasn't even this aggressive!"

"Has he talked to you about this?!" Roy shouted.

Edward took another step towards them.

"I don't think so!" Alphonse answered. Al suddenly gasped in realization and looked up at Roy with scared yet determined eyes. "General, does your gun still have ammunition?"

"Y-Yes, why?"

"Shoot him." Al said bluntly.

"What?! I can't! His philosopher's stone isn't very powerful!, it could kill him!" Roy shouted.

Al glared up at Mustang. "It's either that or all of us die!"

Roy gulped and took his gun from it's holster. He slowly lifted it and shakily aimed it at Edward. Ed's black eyes widened and he stopped advancing.

"N-No! Don't! You'll ruin everything! I've worked so hard!" Ed gasped.

Roy closed his eyes and pulled the trigger. The loud bang echoed around the small room followed by the sound of tearing flesh. Riza and Al watched the bullet rip through Edward's chest, blood pouring from the wound.

Ed gasped in shock and stumbled backwards against a dresser. He clutched his hand over the bullet hole and tried gripping the edge of the furniture to hold himself up, but he still toppled to the floor. Ed's breathing was short and fast as his lungs filled with blood from the bullet. But his breaths soon becoming weaker until they finally stopped. His spasms stilled and a puddle of blood slowly grew around the teen's body, being fed by the scarlet liquid that poured from his wound and trickled from his mouth.

The room became deathly silent. Ed didn't move at all, and that scared his friends.

'Did I kill him?!' Roy thought frantically. "Ed?" He whispered, cautiously approaching the lifeless boy and kneeling down next to him. "Fullmetal?"

Red alchemical light suddenly sparked around Edward's body. He opened his eyes and gasped for breath. Ed bolted upright and dropped to his hands and knees. He spat up the blood that was still trapped in his lungs, coughing harshly with his arm wrapped around his chest in pain. Roy kneeled down next to him to try and comfort the boy. Soon Edward coughed up the last of the blood and simply stared blankly at the floor while breathing heavily.

"Ed?" Roy murmured softly.

Edward looked up at the general with wide golden eyes. "R-Roy?" He whispered. Ed suddenly grabbed onto Mustang and hugged him tightly. "You're alive! I'm so sorry!" He sobbed.

Roy was taken by surprise by the boy's actions but returned the hug. "It's alright Ed, you're okay now." He murmured.

"But I saw you... I k-killed you! I saw..." Edward's sobs cut off his words. He clutched to Roy as if he might disappear if he let go.

"I'm fine, Ed. You didn't hurt anyone. It's alright." Mustang said softly.

Edward slowly released the General and stared at him. "But... It looked so real... It felt so real..." He whimpered.

"It was just a dream, Fullmetal."

Edward looked around the room, eyes widening at the mess and blood. "W...What did I do?" He whispered. He turned his head to look at Roy. "D-Did I hurt anyone?!"

"No, Ed, nobody got hurt. But it was a close call, though. We had to shoot you before you attacked."

Edward's hand went up to his chest and he rubbed the spot where the bullet had entered. "No wonder I was in so much pain..." he murmured.

"Edward, are you okay?" Riza joined the conversation, walking over and crouching next to Ed.

"H-Hawkeye? What are you doing here?" Ed asked.

The blonde sniper smiled warmly at Ed. "The General told the team about what happened before he got a phone call from Al. Apparently you were sleeping but when you woke up you started acting strangely. I came along to help." she answered.

"I guess the dream I had triggered my insanity..." Ed looked around for his brother. "Al?" he spotted Alphonse a little ways away. Al was staring at Ed worriedly. "What's the matter?"

"Y-You talked while you were trying to attack us... You've never done that before..." Al murmured.

"What?! What did I say?" Ed gasped.

"You said 'Ed isn't here right now' as if you were a different person talking." Al said.

Edward's eyes widened in fear. "Shit! I thought that I didn't have another soul like the other homunculi! But I guess I do..." he suddenly became a bit cheerful. "On the upside this way there might be a chance to get rid of the other soul and stone without me dying! Like Ling, I might have two souls. One is the homunculus soul, and the other is my own soul." Ed became depressed again. "But the homunculus trapped inside me is a homicidal psychopath... Whereas Ling just had a rebellious and aggressive soul that was willing to help us somewhat. I doubt mine will be agreeing to anything... But at least I seem to be in control most of the time so that's a good thing. If we find a way to destroy my homunculus soul we might have a chance. Now all we need to do is find a way to keep myself under control." Ed decided.

He turned towards the others to see what they thought. Roy and Al were nodding in understanding while Riza was thinking deeply.

"But Greed's soul was TAKEN, not used up with the stone. How can we do that to your counterpart without Father and without destroying your soul on accident?" Riza pointed out.

Edward's hopeful expression dropped and a dark aura surrounded him. Ed covered his face with his hands and sighed. "Of course you had to go and crush my hopes, Hawkeye..." He groaned.

"Sorry, but this is an important and dangerous matter. We should think it through." Riza apologized.

"Yeah..." Ed sighed. "Well, I think I see a pattern with my bouts of insanity. They seem to ONLY happen if my mind is in a weakened state like we predicted. I guess the other soul can get some kind of foothold when I do that to take over. It must have some kind of strategy or plan. Did it say anything else of importance?"

"Yeah, actually, when I shot you, yo- er- It said 'I worked so hard.' I guess it was able to gain control completely this time since it could use your powers and even talk in it's own voice. Maybe it even fabricated that dream to put you in despair long enough to take over." Roy rambled.

Ed thought about this. "If this bastard's soul can do that, what else can it do? If it gains strength through my misery maybe I can keep it at bay by being cheerful. But it's kinda hard to do that when I'm in this corrupted state..." Edward sighed. He frowned and thought deeply.

"Remember to keep your thoughts in check, Fullmetal." Roy warned.

"Yeah, Yeah, got it General." Edward replied, waving his hand dismissively. After a few moments of thinking Ed sighed, "I'd better find a way to keep this psychotic bastard at bay or at least find an easier way to regain my sanity when I loose it. If this keeps up, my philosopher's stone could get used up from you having to hurt me every time I go crazy."

"What about medical alchemy? I know it's risky but what other choice do we have?" Riza suggested.

Edward heaved a sigh and nodded reluctantly. "One problem, who's gonna do it? Doctor Marcoh might be able to, but he's not exactly going to take THIS very calmly." He motioned to his ouroboros tattoo in anger and slight disgust.

"Marcoh is a good friend, Edward, you know that. He might be able to help. But he was at fort Briggs last I heard. So we might have to travel all the way there. Scar is also at fort Briggs, he might know something about this too." Roy mumbled.

"Okay... But how will we even get into Briggs without raising suspicion? I'm supposed to be dead, remember?" Ed argued.

"But you're a homunculus, why not shape-shift into an animal or something that we can hide easier." Roy pointed out.

"Okay then. I guess we'll be going to fort Briggs." Ed announced. He suddenly put on a terrified expression. "But what about Oliver?! She's terrifying! What'll she think?!" He gasped.

"Don't worry, Oliver is in the east on an assignment. Miles is in charge of Briggs at the moment." Roy said.

"Good..." Edward sighed in relief. "But I'm not looking forward to seeing Scar again... He's probably gonna flip when he finds out what's wrong with me."

"Well get over it! You don't realize it but Scar is a powerful ally. He might help." Roy said sternly.

"I just hope he doesn't 'Esplode ma face." Ed sighed.

* * *

(Heehe... 'Esplode... :3 Plot development! YAAAAY!)


	13. Chapter 13

(:3)

* * *

I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

- chapter 13

* * *

(traveling to Briggs)

It was _freezing_! Even the air inside the train the four friends rode was chilled. Roy was seated in front of Edward on the other side of the table that was positioned between them. Hawkeye was next to Roy, keeping her eyes on the isle for any approaching civilians although they were in a private train car.

Alphonse was taking the worst affect from the cold. His body was still very thin and couldn't keep a temperature very well. But it was alright for now.

Edward had already given his red coat to his brother to help keep him warm. When Al protested Edward said, "I'm a homunculus, remember? The cold won't hurt me." Alphonse reluctantly took the jacket from Ed and was now sleeping soundly against his brother's shoulder. Edward couldn't help but smile. He'd missed his little brother terribly, and it was nice to feel like a part of a family again.

"So, Fullmetal? What are you planning on doing once we get to Briggs? How will we hide you?" Roy suddenly asked, jolting Ed out of his happy thoughts.

Edward sighed and looked out the window at the swirling snow on the other side of the glass with an annoyed expression. 'So much for that little moment.' he thought bitterly. "I don't know, bastard. Maybe a mouse or a bird."

"Jeez, what's with the attitude Fullmetal? It was a simple question."

"Whatever. Just stuff me in a suitcase or something." Ed grumbled.

Roy sighed and leaned back against his seat. He watched Edward closely as the boy stared out the window. His gaze traveled to the ouroboros tattoo that was partially hidden by the collar of Edward's black shirt.

'That damn tattoo is the mark of a killer.' Roy thought. 'Even Greed had his bouts of bloodlust even though he was on our side. Heck, he was only on our side for his own selfish gain.'

Ed caught Mustang's eye and glared at him. "What's with the staring? Got something on your mind?" He growled.

Roy sighed again for the hundredth time that day and shook his head. "Not really." He breathed sadly.

Edward's gaze softened and he faced the General and watched him curiously. "Seriously, what's eating you? Something wrong?"

"Nothing really important. Just some depressing thoughts is all. We don't want you to get all miserable and risk that bastard taking over." Roy murmured.

"I can handle it." Ed argued. His golden eyes searched his superior curiously, shining with sympathy. "What's wrong? You can tell me, a family has to watch out for each other."

Roy stiffened a bit at that statement but finally sighed in defeat. "Fine... It's just that... I just felt so... When you were... I was scared when... Agh..." Mustang groaned in annoyance and slapped a hand over his face at his own disability to speak his mind.

"You're glad I'm back, aren't you? You missed me. you were scared that I was really gone." Ed murmured sympathetically.

Roy looked up at his former subordinate in surprise. "Lemme guess, you got all that from the Ultimate Eye?" he sighed.

"No." Edward said, shaking his head slowly. "I just know you too well. I wont ever try to use that power to get inside a person's mind. That would just be intruding on someone's privacy at a whole new level."

Roy smiled slightly. "Yeah... I missed you more than you could know, pipsqueak. When you were gone, I didn't know what to do without you. I was terrified at the possibility that my own so- er... Friend had died because of me. I know it wasn't technically our fault, but all of the soldiers who were there felt like they hadn't done enough to protect you. And I still believe I could have done more to help you with your problems before, but instead I harassed and teased you nonstop." Roy sighed.

"Bastard, it wasn't your fault. If anyone's, its mine! I should have killed that bastard Father when I had the chance. But I went and let him turn me into a freaking monster." Ed said sternly. His voice lowered and he blushed slightly in embarrassment. "And... Well... I missed you too, you damn bastard. I missed all of you." Ed swept his gaze over Roy, Riza, and his sleeping brother. "I could hardly stand having to live without my frien- no... My family. Not to mention that I'd have to live much longer than any of you would. After all, the original Greed was, like, two hundred years old or something. I didn't want to watch my friends die around me while I would stay alive through it all, unable to help or be with them." Ed sighed and lowered his head sadly.

Roy nudged his shoulder. "Hey, watch those thoughts. You don't have to worry about that. We are here with you now, and we will help you through this." He soothed.

Edward sighed and relaxed. "Yeah... Thanks..." he gave a big yawn and leaned against the cool glass of the window to fall asleep.

* * *

The train jerked to a sudden stop, waking Edward and his brother. Ed let out a yelp, fell from his seat, and landed on his face.

"Well, guess we're here." Roy announced.

"Thanks for the insight, general obvious." Ed grumbled as he picked himself up off the ground. "You okay, Al?" he asked his brother who had also fallen on the floor.

"Mhm..." Al answered, dusting himself off. He turned and looked out the window. "Holy crap! It's a blizzard out there!" He exclaimed, pointing at the swirling whiteness just outside the glass window.

Edward shrugged. "Its not that bad, Just a little windy. I wouldn't call that a blizzard."

"Says the homunculus who can't die from the cold." Roy snorted.

"Hey, I can still feel the cold, ya know! and plus, I have automail!" Ed's eyes suddenly widened in realization. "Shit! I forgot to get my northern automail from our room! I always kept a spare in the dorms, but I completely forgot!"

"Damn it, Fullmetal! Now what are we gonna do?!" Roy groaned.

"Well, first we should get off the train, sir." Riza interrupted. A whistle echoed through the air, signaling that the train would be leaving soon. The four quickly ran down the isle and bundled out of the train.

"Thank goodness nobody lives around here or else I would have been seen!" Ed panted once they all had exited the train.

"Well, we'd better get moving." Roy announced and started to walk into the swirling snow. The others followed, slowly traveling towards the Briggs fortress in the icy weather.

~~~~~~~~squiggles of passing time~~~~~~~~

Alphonse had started to shiver after an hour of trekking. His coat wasn't one of impressive size and his thin form couldn't stand the cold for long.

"Here, Al." Edward murmured, handing his own coat to his sibling.

"No, Brother. It's your coat, you need it." Alphonse protested.

"Take it, Al. I'll be fine..."

Al reluctantly accepted the jacket and wrapped it around himself. But soon the cold seeped through once more. To make matters worse, Edward was beginning to get frostbite on his automail ports.

"Dammit..." Ed hissed, rubbing the aching skin. "How much longer until we reach fort Briggs?" he called to Mustang.

"About an hour and a half, it's a really far distance from the station. especially if your traveling by foot. I wish there were roads or some kind of guide to get there but it's supposed to stay out of the citizens' reach." Roy replied.

"Well they certainly accomplished THAT goal." Ed muttered and continued walking.

The snow piled up rapidly around the four friends as they slowly hiked up the mountain. The temperature dropped and the path they were following became covered with snow, making it hard to follow.

"D-Dammit, how are we su-supposed to get to Briggs n-now?!" Roy snarled angrily.

"I don't know, sir. Maybe it would have been a good idea to better prepare for this trek." Hawkeye said.

Roy slapped a hand over his face at his own stupidity. "Yeah... Too late for that." he turned to look back at Edward. The boy was struggling through the snow with only his shirt to keep himself warm. The frostbite was now visible on his shoulder. "Any ideas, Fullmetal?"

"N-No... None of m-my powers can d-do anything to help us. A-And my m-movements are getting slow..." Ed mumbled drowsily.

"Shit... Come on, Ed. You'll be okay. I should have packed more jackets. A nice fur coat sounds nice right about now." Roy hissed. He heard a gasp come from Edward. Roy turned to look at his former subordinate. "What is it?"

"Fur!" Ed exclaimed.

"What-"

A bright flash of red interrupted Roy's words. Edward's form was lost in the light and alchemical energy crackled through the air. When the light faded, a massive grizzly bear stood where Edward once was. Riza stiffened beside Roy and reached for her gun as she stared up at the huge furry creature.

"Relax, Hawkeye, it's me." Edward's voice growled from the bear. Riza loosened her tensed shoulders and placed her gun back in it's holster.

Ed-bear shook out it's shaggy fur and dropped down onto all fours. "Ah... Much better. No automail to bother me and I have a huge fur coat." he sighed.

"Well, good for you." Roy huffed, turning away from the bear to continue trekking up the mountain. 'Rub it in our faces, that's fine ya little brat.' he thought bitterly.

Suddenly Roy gasped in surprise when a massive furry paw lifted him into the air. "W-What the hell! Fullmetal, PUT ME DOWN!" He shouted.

"Afraid of heights, Mustang?" Edward chuffed in amusement. "Relax, it will go much faster this way." He placed Roy on his neck behind his head and then lifted Riza up next. Last was Alphonse, Ed gently placed his little brother between Hawkeye and Roy in the thick fur on his shoulders. Ed then hooked the suitcase strap over one of his teeth.

"There! Now we can really get a move on!" Edward announced. He immediately began lumbering up the mountain effortlessly, almost like a tank.

Roy gripped the corse brown fur tightly and kept himself lowered in fear of falling off if the big bear. The swaying of Edward's pawsteps were slow and steady. He was being careful not to jostle his passengers.

Mustang slowly lifted his head and looked around. 'Holy crap I'm up high!' He thought. 'Heh, for such a shorty, Fullmetal is a pretty big bear.' Roy chuckled to himself, a smirk plastered on his face. He stared over Edward's head at the swirling snow. 'Huh, he's sniffing the air. Must be tracking his way to Briggs. How convenient.'

Mustang looked to the side and saw Edward's huge paws step effortlessly across the snow. They simply swiped the piles of ice aside and kept moving as if it wasn't even there. He looked back at Riza and Alphonse. They clung to the fur and simply stared ahead seriously. Roy, however, could feel excitement bubble up within him.

"I'm riding a bear... I'm riding a BEAR." Mustang whispered to himself. He saw Edward's ear twitch and a fanged smirk appear on the bear's muzzle. Roy lifted his head higher, a massive grin on his face. "I'm riding a F**king GRIZZLY BEAR!" he laughed loudly.

Deep chuffs of laughter erupted from Edward, shaking his entire body. "Geez, Mustang, you can be such a dork sometimes!" he chuckled.

"Really, sir? Could you at least act a little less childish?" Riza sighed in exasperation. But you could see the amusement on her face.

"Oh sorry. Let me correct myself, I'm riding a F**king _TALKING_ Grizzly bear!" Roy shouted. All four friends erupted into laughter, nearly falling off Edward's back.

"Oh my gate, Roy... You are unbelievable." Ed gasped.

"What? When am I ever going to be able to say something like that again?" Roy chuckled.

"Well, enough fun. We're here." Edward announced.

Roy looked up and saw the massive shadow of a wall through the swirling snow. "Well... Here we go."

* * *

(hehe... riding a bear... :3 I love that part...)


	14. Chapter 14

(In response to Bluefire21guest's review, Thanks! I loved that part too, hehe, Roy is such a dork. xD oh, and it's fine to call me your friend! You be mah friend too. :3 anyhoo, ramble away! I tend to ramble quite a lot too, and once you have an account, you can ramble all you want to me! I'd listen!)

(Oh, and Bros, get ready for some epicness! this chapter is _REALLY_ important. and awesome if I do say so myself :3)

*(I added more to this chapter!)*

* * *

I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

- chapter 14

* * *

Mustang stared up at the massive metal wall that made up the Briggs fortress. "Ed, change into something small so we can hide you." Roy commanded from atop the bear.

Red light sparked and everyone was suddenly sitting on empty air. They gasped as they dropped down into the snow. Roy lifted his head from the cold flakes and glared at a laughing human-looking Edward. The boy quieted his laughter but a smirk remained.

"Alright, come on Ed." Roy sighed.

He picking himself up and dusted off his snow-covered coat. Mustang lifted a small suitcase and opened it up a bit. Edward rolled his eyes and shape-shifted into a mouse. Roy caught him before he could sink into the deep snow and gently placed him inside the suitcase.

The three approached the massive metal wall until they could see it clearly through the swirling snow and walked up to a guard. "General Roy Mustang, I am here to see Doctor Marcoh." Roy said in a business-like voice and held up his state alchemist watch.

The guard examined the watch and nodded. He signaled to the other guard and opened the massive gate. Roy, Riza, and Alphonse entered the fortress with the guards following close behind. They walked down a long hallway and up an elevator until they reached the main floor.

Roy was greeted by major Miles. The Ishvalan studied Mustang through the glasses that hid is red eyes. "Hello, General. What purpose do you have here?" He asked gruffly.

"I would like to see doctor Marcoh, please. We have some information that he might find interesting and we would rather it stay just between us." Roy replied.

Miles stared quizzically at the general for a few more moments before nodding. "Very well. He's right this way." He said. Miles motioned to a familiar dark-skinned man. "Scar can show you the way."

Upon hearing his name, Scar turned to face the major. He spotted Mustang yet no anger passed over his gaze, but no happiness either. At least he didn't hold much of a grudge against Roy any longer.

"General Mustang." He greeted emotionlessly, nodding to said general. "Alphonse, Lieutenant Hawkeye." he nodded to each in turn.

"Now then. Scar, show them to Marcoh's room." Miles commanded before turning to a different group of soldiers and continued his previous conversation.

Scar grunted in response and started walking down a hallway. Mustang and his group followed obediently despite the rocky past between the general and the Ishvalan. The five officers soon arrived at Marcoh's room after a short and silent walk.

"The doctor isn't busy at the moment so you're in luck." Scar mumbled before abandoning the four friends to do their business.

"Thanks." Roy said to the Ishvalan before he could leave. Scar only grunted in response and continued walking away.

"Well that went better than I had planned." Roy sighed. "It thought he was going to be mad that I showed up here. But he seems to be a reliable soldier."

"Enough chit-chat!" a muffled squeaky voice shouted from within the suitcase. "It's stuffy in here! Hurry up before I chew a hole through the side!"

"Alright, alright! Geez, Ed." Roy grumbled. He knocked on the door and waited for a response.

The door opened with a creak, revealing doctor Marcoh's disfigured face. Roy had nearly forgotten that the doctor's face was like that.

"Doctor? May we come in? I would like to share some important information with you and maybe ask a favor." Roy asked. Marcoh smiled and opened the door wider to allow his guests inside.

The room was a fairly large one with a few dressers, a chair, and a bed. But other than that it was somewhat empty besides the alchemy research notes and books scattered around. Tim Marcoh closed the door behind his guests and turned to face them.

"What is it you wanted to talk about?" Tim asked.

Roy opened the door and looked around outside before locking it. "This is a very important matter, Doctor. I would rather this information stay just between us at all costs."

Tim's expression was serious as he nodded slowly. "Of course general, what is it?"

Mustang had no idea where to start, so he might as well get it over with quickly. Roy sighed and lifted one of the suitcases. He opened it up, set it onto the bed, and backed away. Marcoh stared at the suitcase in confusion as a little mouse crawled out of the case and jumped down onto the bed. It looked up at Roy, who signaled for it to stay put.

"Uh... General, there's a mouse in my room..." Tim muttered.

"I know." Roy replied calmly. "Marcoh, this is Edward. Edward, this is Doctor Marcoh."

The mouse studied the doctor and then glared at Mustang. "Bastard, I already know him, jerk. You know that! Geez..." Ed squeaked, folding his little mouse arms.

"Uh..." Marcoh gasped, staring at the talking mouse that sat on his bed.

"Heya, Doctor. Been a while, hasn't it? Heck, haven't seen you since I died." Ed snickered. He grinned at the bewildered expression Marcoh had.

"G-General... Co-Could you please explain what the hell is going on?!" Tim gasped.

"Well... Edward, here, is a homunculus." Roy began unceremoniously. "And yes, it's really Fullmetal. Father turned Ed into a homunculus before Ed killed him. Afterwards Edward went through the gate to retrieve Alphonse. But what Edward never told us was why he went insane. He lied and said that his sanity was taken, but really his humanity was taken in exchange. As a result of no longer being human and having an additional homunculus soul in his body... He kinda went bonkers." Roy explained bluntly.

A tiny clapping sound emitted from where the mouse sat on the bed. Edward clapped his paws sarcastically. "Wow, Mustang... That was the BEST explanation EVER." he said before shape-shifting back into his human form. "Much better." he sighed as he rubbed his back. "It wasn't exactly comfortable in that suitcase."

Marcoh stared at Edward in shock, his mouth agape. "B...But... Y-You're dead!" He gasped.

Edward rolled his eyes and showed his tattoo. "Homunculus, remember? Can't die very easily. I faked it, I couldn't let myself harm anyone so I made sure you would stay away from me. But that plan is officially out the window... Not since Al and Roy saw me AND nearly killed me!" Ed shot his little brother and Mustang a glare.

"Hey! We said we were sorry!" They shouted in unison. Marcoh simply stared at the two as they argued with a bewildered expression.

"Well just be glad my stone was powerful enough to withst-"

"Will SOMEONE explain what the hell is going on?!" Marcoh shouted. Roy and Ed stopped arguing and looked at the doctor. Mustang cleared his throat and straightened himself.

"Right, sorry. Anyway, I wanted to give you this information because you are a friend and you may have the power to help Edward's situation." Roy said.

"What can I do?" Tim asked.

Edward interrupted Roy to answer. "Well I'm kinda going insane. You see, I have two souls within myself. My own soul and a corrupted homunculus soul. This homunculus can gain control of my body if I become miserable or weak-minded. It seems that it may draw strength through my misery. kinda messed up if you ask me. As a result it can affectively take control of my body when I am confronted with the idea or thought of death and despair. But there is another problem, my own soul may become corrupted. However, some of my insanity may be curable through alchemy. That is where you come in." Ed explained.

Tim Marcoh bowed his head and thought about the request. "I don't know if I can do anything for you. It seems that most of the proplem is coming from either your philosopher's stone or your soul, both of which I cannot alter using alchemy." Tim said gravely.

Edward frowned. "Is there anything you can do? Sanity is linked with the brain, right? So maybe some medical brain alchemy stuffs would work? Come on doctor, I'm desperate here! I don't want to hurt my friends any more!" Ed pleaded.

"Alright, Alright! I'll see what I can do." Marcoh sighed. He turned and walked to a dresser in the corner of the room. He pulled out a bag full of medical equipment and walked back over. Tim approached Edward cautiously and set the bag down.

"So is there anything you can do?" Ed asked.

Marcoh continued to dig through the bag without answering and pulled out a small red stone and moved over to Edward. He was wary at first but he decided that Ed could be trusted. Ed faced the doctor and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Okay... Let's see now..." Tim murmured before raising the Philosopher's stone to Edward.

Suddenly, red lightning violently arced through the air around Edward and the stone. Ed gasped and his body shook and convulsed painfully.

Marcoh dropped the glowing red stone and jumped away from Ed. "What the hell?! I hadn't even transmuted!" He shouted. "A-Are the stones reacting to each other?!"

Edward tumbled to the floor and curled in on himself. His body still shook as if he was having a seizure as red lightening crackled through the air. Ed lifted his head and looked strait at Roy despite the horrible pain.

"R-Roy... Help... Me..." He gasped before his head dropped back to the floor.

the alchemical lights flickered out and Edward's spasms stilled. But Ed was completely motionless, he didn't even twitch or breath. He looked like he was dead... And that scared everyone in the room.

"E-Ed?" Roy called warily. He slowly walked up to the blonde boy and crouched next to him. "Fullmetal? You alright?" Mustang asked as he gently shook Ed's shoulder.

Suddenly, Edward's hand shot out and wrapped around the general's throat. Roy gasped in shock and tried leaping away but Ed had a crushing grip on his neck. He choked for air and clawed at Edward's hand to remove it.

"Heh... Hehee... Eeehee... HAHAAHEH!" A creepily distorted voice laughed maniacally.

Roy's eyes widened in horror when he realized what was happening.

Edward's head snapped up and he stared at Mustang with his pure black eyes. He grinned madly and let out another bout of laughter. "Ehehe... Hello again, General bastard!" 'Edward' sneered. "How nice to see you! That was such a generous farewell gift you gave me! A bullet to the chest! That hurt ya know, and now I'm going to finish what I started!" Edward's hand tightened around Roy's throat, making the general gasp for breath.

"Ed, stop!" Alphonse pleaded.

Ed turned his head to stare at Al. "Heh... little 'brother'... Great to see you again! And don't think I forgot who told this bastard to pull the trigger! You're next!" Edward looked back at the struggling Roy. "But first I'm gonna finish off the general..."

A sudden gunshot boomed. Ed shrieked in pain and jerked his hand away from Roy's neck to cover the bullet hole that made itself known on his shoulder.

Riza stepped forward with a gun in her hands. "Edward, stop it, NOW." She commanded.

Roy gulped in deep breaths of air and stumbled away from Edward. He rubbed his neck painfully and croaked a quiet thanks to Riza.

Edward scowled and let go of his shoulder. Red light flashed and the wound was healed. He smirked. "Hehe... You missed."

Roy stood up and stared at Edward. "Who are you?! Give Edward his body back!" He demanded in a hoarse voice.

"Heh... Why would I do that? This is too much fun!" Ed laughed.

"Who are you?! Answer me!" Roy snarled.

"You want to know who I am? Very well! My name is Death! I drag the living to their graves! I am a bringer of pain and destruction! And you shall be my first victims. It's been such a bother, this little brat has been keeping me from doing what I was meant to do, kill." Ed sneered.

Roy scowled and stepped closer to Edward. "You monster, he's not the only one stopping you. We will do the same. Riza, fire when ready."

'Death' smirked and looked at Riza. The lieutenant's eyes were firm and cold as she raised her firearm.

Ed's eyes suddenly widened, taking on an innocent and scared façade, looking almost like a normal person. "D-Don't shoot, Hawkeye! Do you really want to kill your friend?!" He pleaded using Edward's normal voice.

Riza narrowed her eyes and simply pulled the trigger. Death gasped and dodged the bullet. He scowled at the lieutenant and readied himself to dodge again.

"So much for that plan..." Death growled. "But this one will have to do!"

Ed suddenly leaped at Hawkeye, surprising her. She gasped and dodged but Death just laughed maniacally and lunged at her again.

"HAHAHEHA! DIE! DIE! DIE!" He cackled.

Riza stumbled back against a wall and stared at Edward. Ed grinned evilly and leaped for her while laughing crazily. Hawkeye squeezed her eyes shut and waited. But she heard a gasp and a thump instead of feeling the pain of an attack.

Riza opened her eyes to see Edward sprawled on the ground a few feet away. Roy was standing above him, breathing heavily.

"Nobody hurts my subordinates..." Roy hissed before pointing a gun down at Edward and pulling the trigger.

Doctor Marcoh flinched at the sound of the gunshot and the blood that followed. He quickly shielded Alphonse's eyes but couldn't look away himself. Marcoh was already terrified at these turn of events but now it had gotten much worse. Not only did he watch Edward go through some kind of painful reaction to the stone and attack his own friends, but now Tim had to witness Roy shoot his own subordinate in the head.

Roy let out the breath he was holding and stepped away from Edward's lifeless body. Mustang crouched down next to the boy and stroked his bloodied golden hair. "Sorry, Fullmetal... But I had to..." He murmured.

"I know..." A pain-filled voice coughed as smaller sparks of red energy flashed around Edward's head.

Marcoh stared with wide eyes as Ed sat up and wiped the blood from his face

Edward turned to look at Marcoh. "Sorry about that... Now there's blood all over your room." Ed sighed. He rubbed his head where the bullet had entered.

Tim simply stared at Ed in horror. Edward noticed the doctor's fear and sighed again. "It's okay, Marcoh... It's me, I'm not going to hurt you."

"W-What the hell happened?" Tim asked shakily.

"I don't really know... Care to explain Roy?" Ed looked at Mustang expectantly.

"I think your stone reacted with Marcoh's stone and allowed the other soul to take control. But this time it didn't happen because of your state of mind." Roy said. "But... It did say something... Disturbing."

Edward stood up and wiped the blood off of his hands on his red coat. "What did I- er... It say?"

"Well we know his name now..."

"It has a name?!" Ed asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes... But I'd rather he not have this one... He said his name was Death." Roy murmured.

Edward stared at the general with a bewildered expression for a few moments. "D-Death? Well... That's rather... Um... unsettling. What else did it say?"

"It said that you have been keeping it from doing what it was created to do, kill." Roy answered.

"Well I guess that's a good thing I suppose... how I've been stopping it from doing what it was meant to do. And let's just keep it that way." Ed stated.

Roy sighed, "We can't do anything here after all, so this whole trip to Briggs was a waste. I'm starting to think that your insanity can't be cured through medical means. I believe the only way to do it is to destroy the other soul. So we should stick to figuring out how to do that."

Edward tilted his head in thought and nodded. "Yeah... This was a wasted trip. We should probably go back to central, there isn't much else we can do here. Besides, Central has more information that could help us." Ed murmured. He turned to look at Marcoh. "Well... I guess we should be leaving. Sorry again, Marcoh. do you need us to help you clean up? It would be rather suspicious to find blood in your room, especially because it's MY blood. I'm supposed to be dead after all."

Marcoh shook his head. "It's fine. I got it." He said.

Ed then looked at his little brother. "Sorry you had to see that, Al..." he murmured.

Al gave a weak smile. "It's okay I guess... Although I felt like I was going to be sick seeing you get shot in the head like that..."

"Sorry." Ed sighed again.

He grabbed his red jacket and tried to wipe up some of the blood that was spattered on the wall. But his jacket was already splotched with blood and wasn't much help. "Uhhh... That's as good as I can get." Ed decided. He looked at Tim sheepishly, "Sorry again doctor..."

"It's fine. I can use alchemy to clean it up." Tim assured.

Ed nodded and turned to Roy. "We should get going..."

Mustang nodded and thanked Marcoh again. Ed stood up and was about to shape-shift into a mouse again when Tim stopped him.

"Good luck, Ed. I hope you fix this soon. It's great to see that you're alive, this world needs someone like you." Marcoh said.

Ed smiled and nodded. He shape-shifted and crawled into a suitcase. "Agh... let's hurry up and get to Central, Mustang, I don't like being carried around..." Ed squeaked in annoyance.

"Fine." Roy growled. "Bye Marcoh, thanks anyway." He called before leaving the room.

* * *

Edward, Riza, Roy, and Alphonse were once again riding on a train. This time it was headed back to central. But it was just as boring as before.

"Roy... I've been thinking..." Ed murmured while looking out the window.

"Hm?" Roy grunted. 'So much for trying to get some sleep.'

"I think Truth was lying... Heh, as weird as it sounds with that name. But much of what he said has been proven wrong. He said that I didn't have another soul, which is definitely not true. And he said that if I stayed around people I would be tempted to kill, yet I've been around the three of you and I haven't tried it as if it was a temptation. The only times were when that bastard Death takes over... But why the hell did truth lie? And what else is a lie? Some of it is true but I don't know what else is... I'm so confused." Ed murmured.

Roy sighed and ruffled Edward's hair and surprisingly Ed didn't try to kill him for it. "I don't know, kid. But we're here for you no matter what." He said.

Ed smiled and looked back out the window. "Well there is an upside, if what Truth said was a lie, then I can be around more people. It seems that Death can only take over if I'm in a weak or vulnerable state of mind, mostly if I'm depressed, so if I stay cheerful it could keep him from taking control. And what's a better way to stay happy than to spend time with my friends?" Edward laughed. But then he frowned and narrowed his eyes. "You know... I think Truth was only trying to make me suffer... I wouldn't be surprised if that's what it was. He said that I couldn't be with other people, which would make me more depressed so Death could take over easily... Edward''s eyes narrowed. "Yeah... That bastard Truth was only trying to punish me! He did say it was the 'ultimate punishment' so why not make it worse? That bastard..." he growled.

Roy tapped Ed on his shoulder. "Don't get all stressed about this. How about we meet up with the team when we get to central? That would boost your spirits, right? And they were really happy to know that you were alive, so they will be excited to see you again." Mustang offered.

Edward grinned and nodded. "Heh, yeah. I just hope Armstrong doesn't hug me to death." He chuckled.

* * *

(YAY! PLOT DEVELOPMENT!)

Anyhoo,

(Okay guys! The next few chapter updates are gonna be a bit slow... I've caught up to myself already... Aaaaand I have a bit of writer's block... Hehe... Yeah... Sorry... BUT! the next chapter is almost finished and it's pretty funny :3)

A review would be nice!


	15. Chapter 15

(okai peeps, updates might be postponed for a month, give or take a week. I am finally moving out on august 1 and the computers are going down tomorrow. at least I updated before that! :3)

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I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

-Chapter 15

***(PEEPS! READ THE CHAPTER BEFORE THIS ONE! I ADDED MORE TO THE END OF CHAPTER 14!)***

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Havoc, Breda, Armstrong, Falman, and Fuery all sat in a large living room in Roy's new home, waiting for the general to arrive. The house was really big, two stories high and had ten bedrooms and two living rooms. Mustang had bought the house when he became a general just because he could. But Roy doesn't have anyone to share it with, he's still single!

Breda and Falman sat together on one couch while Furey and havoc sat in another. Armstrong took up an entire couch by himself. He didn't have his usual sparkles and happy demeanor. They were all too worried.

The team was ordered to meet there but Roy didn't say why. All they were told was that it was about Edward, which worried them. Last they heard from the general was when he abruptly left because Alphonse called about Edward. Everybody was scared when that happened, they didn't know what to expect after learning about Edward's condition so they assumed the worst.

Why were they called to meet in Roy's house? The team only does that when it's an emergency, so something bad must have happened. And if it has something to do with Edward, then it must be even worse.

A noise interrupted the dark thoughts of the officers. Someone opening the big entrance door and entering the house. Several sets of footsteps echoed from the hallway.

Riza, Roy, and Al stepped into the living room. Roy swept his gaze over the gathered soldiers. They quickly stood up and saluted their superior as he entered.

Roy smiled "No need for formalities! This isn't a military meeting. And stop looking so distressed!" he laughed.

The soldiers were taken by surprise by his words and glanced at one another in confusion.

"But... Didn't you say this meeting has something to do with Major Elric?" Fuery asked.

"It does. But this is only a meeting among friends, not the military." Roy answered.

"What's the news about Chief anyway?" Havoc piped up.

Roy's smile faded instantly, replaced by a thoughtful frown. "Well... We've found some disturbing things about Edward..." Roy murmured. The soldiers glanced at each other nervously and leaned closer. "It seems that Fullmetal does have two souls in his body, much like the homunculus called Greed. One is Edward himself and the other is a homunculus' soul. This homunculus recently spoke while it was in control of Edward's body. It called itself 'Death' and repeatedly tried to kill me and Hawkeye."

The soldiers' eyes widened in horror an began glancing around nervously.

"But this is only on rare occasions when Death is able to talk." Roy assured. "It has only happened twice: when I went to Al's room after he called and while we were visiting doctor Marcoh at fort Briggs. It seems that Death can only control Edward to a certain point. The least of our problems is when Death is only slightly in control. that only happens when Edward is depressed and he simply twitches and laughs without posing much of a threat. When he is nearly in control he can be pretty dangerous. it happens when Edward is deeply thinking about killing or his sanity. Death can't talk or use his powers but he can be aggressive. When Death is totally in control it can be disastrous. It's rare, thank goodness, and only happens if there is a reaction with his philosopher's stone or he is subjected to traumatic events. That is when Death can talk freely and move around alarmingly fast. He will then do anything in his power to murder anyone in the room using his homunculus abilities." Roy finished.

Everybody looked terrified upon hearing this. Roy chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "But now isn't the time. This is supposed to be a happy gathering! Yeah, I know that was terrible news... but cheer up! Someone wants to see you."

Roy turned and motioned to someone behind him in the hallway. Footsteps were heard and Edward suddenly entered the room. He smirked at the collective expressions of shock from the soldiers.

"Hey." Edward said, waving at his friends.

"EDWARD ELRIC!" Armstrong bellowed. Alex bounded over to Edward and lifted the boy into the air despite his scream for mercy. The huge alchemist pulled Edward into a bone-crushing hug. "Its so GREAT to see you! We were all so WORRIED!" Alex cried.

"A-Armstrong... You're h-hurting me!" Edward spluttered against the pain of being crushed.

Alex didn't seem to hear Ed's pleas and squeezed harder, rubbing his face against Edward.

"Major! Stop!" Havoc shouted.

Too late. A sickening crack snapped through the air. Armstrong froze, as did everybody else. Edward let out a single shuddering breath and went limp in the major's arms. Alex gasped and quickly let go of Edward. The boy fell to the ground with a thump but didn't even twitch. His eyes stared unblinking at the wall, looking glassy and faded.

"M-Major! Wh...What did you do?!" Fuery shrieked in horror.

"Edward?" Breda called.

"Ch-Chief?" Havoc murmured.

Roy stepped forward with a strait and emotionless face. "I believe you snapped his neck, Major." He stated in a flat tone.

Alex looked down at Edward and then back at Roy. "H-How can you be so calm?! He's dead! I-I killed him!" Armstrong shouted, tears forming in his eyes.

"Well yes... Yes you did." Roy replied. Armstrong's eyes widened in horror before Mustang continued. "I've killed him before too. I believe I've killed him four times now."

"What?!" The soldiers exclaimed.

"He's right ya know." Edward's voice said. The soldiers shrieked and jumped in surprise. Red sparks crackled around Edward's body and he sat up. "That bastard has killed me about three or four times." Ed cracked his neck back into place and sighed. "There, much better... You know what? That wasn't as painful as getting shot in the head. But I could have gone without the hug of death." Ed glared at Alex, who jumped back and glanced around sheepishly.

Roy walked up to Ed and offered a hand. Edward took it and stood up. He rubbed his neck and smirked at the shocked faces of the other soldiers.

"what? Mustang told you I was a homunculus. He wasn't kidding. See?" Ed pulled down the collar of his shirt and showed his ouroboros tattoo to the others.

"H-Hell Chief... Don't scare us like that..." Havoc gasped.

"Whatever... Anyway, you can thank Armstrong for bringing me one step closer to actual death. I don't know how much longer I can withstand dying over and over." Ed growled. The soldiers gave him confused and worried looks. "Gah... Okay, enough of this! I didn't come here to start a conversation about everything bad thats been going on! I came here to be with my friends." Ed sighed. "It's enough of a risk that I'm even here, so let's keep things positive, okay?"

The soldiers nodded and smiled.

"Now let's see if I survive this time!" Ed chuckled. his friends laughed, drawing another smile from Edward.

"I really missed ya, kid." Breda said, walking up to Ed and ruffling his hair.

Next Havoc came forward and slapped Ed on his back. "We all missed you." He murmured. Fuery and Falman approached and greeted Edward with friendly words. The blonde homunculus couldn't help but grin, he was feeling like part of a family again.

Ed noticed Armstrong standing off to the side staring at the others as they surrounded Edward. He seemed to be trying extremely hard to not get overly emotional. The huge alchemist was trembling with a tear visible in his eye and his sparkles shined fiercely. Edward's eyes widened, he didn't need the Ultimate eye to predict the Major's intentions.

"OH, I can't just sit still! Come here you wonderful child!" Armstrong bellowed.

He immediately lunged forward to hug the eight friends in one huge group hug. The others shrieked as Alex rapidly approached.

"Not this again!" Ed shouted. There was a flash of red and Edward was gone, leaving the others to suffer the hug of death.

"Ch-Chief! Don't abandon us! Chief?!" Havoc gasped as Alex wrapped his huge arms around them all in a crushing embrace.

"Ha! Ha!" A squeaky voice that sounded suspiciously like Edward laughed from above.

They looked up and saw a little bat hovering over them and away from the danger. It had fierce golden eyes that easily gave away it's identity.

"Edward?" Fuery murmured.

"Heh, there are some useful things that can come from being a homunculus! Like shape-shifting and the Ultimate Shield." Ed laughed, doing a little loop-de-loop in the air just to show off.

Alex released the others and stared up at the tiny bat in amazement. The others stared as well, except they were also breathing heavily to get oxygen back into their systems after the crushing hug.

Mustang smirked. "Really Fullmetal, you shouldn't shape-shift into things like that. You are small enough as it is."

The bat scowled and landed on the back of a couch. "Fine! I'll show you..." he hissed before hopping into the floor.

Another flash of red flared around Edward, growing larger and larger. A tall giraffe stood in Ed's place once the light faded. Ed straightened up and smirked, but his head smacked the ceiling. "Ouch..."

Roy started laughing while the others stared in disbelief. "Ha! Wow, Ed! You have to be the shortest giraffe I've ever seen!"

"Shut up! Who's the one who carried you up Briggs mountain? I could have easily EATEN you instead!" Ed spat.

"Oh yeah?! Well I'd love to see you try to eat the great Roy Mustang!" Roy retorted.

Edward smirked and shape-shifted again, He now looked exactly like Roy. "Look at me, I'm Roy Mustang!" Ed taunted in a stupid voice. "I'm gonna steal your girlfriend just cuz I can! I think I'm so awesome and irresistible!"

Roy's face turned red while the others laughed hysterically. "Fullmetal! Don't do that!" he shouted. "Don't turn into me! That's just weird!"

"Okay, okay!" Ed chuckled before shape-shifting back into his original form and sitting down on the couch.

"Wow, Chief! What else can you do?" Havoc asked excitedly.

Edward tilted his head in thought. "I mostly use Greed, Wrath, and Pride's power. With Sloth's I can move fast so I usually use that without noticing. Lust's is too weird. so far Envy's is my favorite." He decided.

"W-What about Gluttony?!" Fuery gasped.

Edward threw his arms into the air in frustration "Come on! Why does everybody mention Gluttony?! I'd rather not even THINK about that..." Ed shouted. "I don't even think I HAVE that power, whatever the hell it was! I assure you I am NOT a defective Portal of Truth! At least I hope not..." Ed trailed off with a horrified expression. "Aw, Shit! What if I am?! W-Wait... I can't be! the original Gluttony was a failed experiment... And since Father didn't experiment on me, I shouldn't be a defective portal..." Edward then sighed and smiled. "Well, even if I am, I swear I will NEVER use it... Seriously... That's just plain creepy..."

Roy and the others looked completely confused. They stared at Edward as if waiting for an explanation. Ed sighed again and face-palmed.

"Gluttony is a fake portal of Truth. I know because I got eaten by gluttony once. Ling Yao, Envy, and I got swallowed by him when he escaped after we captured him. Remember, Roy? And you too Alphonse, you actually saw me get eaten. Well we were stuck inside a vast creepy place filled with a sea of blood and debris. Eventually I found Ling and then Envy. Envy tried to kill us but after he ate me, yeah... Eaten for the second time in the span of a few hours... Anyway, I got an idea when I saw his philosopher's stone for a way out of gluttony. And then I used Envy's stone as payment to get us out of Gluttony and we all lived happily ever after, THE END, depressing story time is over!" Ed shouted, flailing his arms exaggeratedly.

The others stared at him in disbelief and horror. Edward sighed and face-palmed again. "Okay guys... Seriously... Cut it out. Enough with the depressing memories! I've had enough happen to me and I'd like to enjoy my family's company!" Ed sighed.

Everybody grinned when Edward said 'family' instead of friends but they didn't bother him about it. Instead they obeyed Ed's commands and simply chatted together.

Edward found himself to be enjoying his friends' company more and more. They talked and laughed amongst themselves and just had a great time the rest of the night...

They were enjoying it so much that all of them, even Hawkeye, failed to notice the spying eyes outside...

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DUN DUN DUUUUN! :3


	16. Chapter 16

(Dis chapter may cause you do die from squeeeeeness)

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-Chapter 16

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Edward yawned and rubbed his eyes as he awoke. Gentle sunlight filtered through the window and into the guest room in Roy's house he was staying in.

So far nothing bad has happened at all, which is a good thing! But it has only been three days ever since Ed went to Mustang's house to visit his friends... So yeah... At least it's something.

Edward tossed the blankets away and jumped off the bed. He groggily approached the mirror that sat above a dresser in the front of the room and looked at his reflection.

It was quite comical, to say the least. His long golden hair was messy beyond recognition and stuck up every which way. His bangs were just as messy, hanging over his tired eyes like a curtain.

"Aww shit... That's gonna take a while to fix..." Ed grumbled as he studied his messy hair. It took a while, but he eventually managed to brush and braid his hair into it's normal style.

Happy with the way he looked, Edward left his room and slowly walked through the hallway and down the stairs to the kitchen.

"At least I don't get lost in this huge house..." Ed thought.

He stumbled into the kitchen and sat at the table. He dropped his head to the wooden surface sleepily, his golden bangs splayed over the table.

"Don't drool on the table, Ed! That's mahogany!" Roy sighed as he walked into the room. He obviously got up earlier than Edward did and actually had time to wake up.

"G'way bastard... M' tired... Wheres Al?" Ed mumbled.

Roy rolled his eyes and walked over to the fridge. "Upstairs in the study. At least wake up enough to eat something or use a place matt instead of the table to drool on."

"M' not hungry." Ed grumbled.

"Fine..." Roy sighed.

Mustang left the room and walked down the hall to the front door. He opened it and took the newspaper from his doorstep and went back inside. Edward was still sitting at the table with his face against the wood.

"Come on, Ed, wake up already." Roy growled. He whacked the blonde alchemist on the head with the rolled-up newspaper a couple of times. Ed only gave a muffled grumble as a reply. Mustang gave up and crossed over into the living room next to the kitchen. He sat down in a recliner and opened the newspaper. Roy's black eyes widened as he skimmed through the headings.

"Edward..." he murmured.

"Leave me alone, dammit, I'm tired! What do you want?" Ed grumbled angrily.

"Know how the basic information about homunculi is available to the whole population now?"

"Yeah?"

"Well... Look at this..." Roy murmured. He stood up and hurried over to Ed and shoved the newspaper in his face.

"What? 'Central High changes school colors'? What's so great about that?" Ed snorted as he read the title.

Roy muttered something inaudible before flipping the newspaper over and shoving it back to Edward.

Ed growled and took the papers. He looked at the main article titled: 'Homunculus sighted in central.' and began to read.

'Recent sightings of a homunculus have been popping up all over central these past few months. A homunculus is a deadly and dangerous creature with unimaginable power and abilities. They may look like people but they are only out to kill. The possibility that one is still alive paralyzes the population with fear. 'I was attacked by a young blonde boy while on a walk with my friends near central HQ a month ago. We tried to fight back but the creature used a strange power that nearly killed us all!' says Michael Gilbert, a civilian. Michael isn't the only witness, his friends also confirmed his story and many others have seen this dangerous young man. The homunculus resembles the Fullmetal Alchemist who died six months ago in the fight against the homunculi. an alchemist was questioned on the matter of the look-alike and replied "It could be a shape-shifter. but Homunculi are created by stealing the body of a normal human, it is very possible that the creature used to be the young alchemist before he was possesed by a homunculus. these creatures are not to be trusted they are deadly and unfeeling. We can only hope that this monster is captured soon.'"

Edward's eyes were wide in fear as he read and his mouth was agape in shock. He hurriedly looked down and saw a photo below the article. He gasped... It was a picture of himself dressed in black with Alphonse walking beside him. a caption below read, 'Photo taken by a bystander of the alleged Homunculus after the attack. A younger boy seems to be traveling with him.'

"R...Roy... What the hell is this?" Ed whispered.

"Apparently the citizens have started to get suspicious..." Roy answered.

Edward remained silent and read the article again. "C-Can't the military stop any investigations?"

"I'm afraid not. It would only make them even more suspicious if the military intervenes. and we wouldn't have a reason to without someone knowing about you. besides, the military cannot keep the citizens from doing personal investigations..." Roy murmured.

Edward slammed his fist down on the table. "Dammit..." Ed looked up at Roy and found him staring with a strange look in his eyes. "What?" Ed asked.

"Is that true?" Roy murmured, narrowing his eyes.

"Is what true?"

"Did you attack civilians?"

Edward stared at Roy with wide eyes. "Well... Yeah... They were trying to hurt Al so I attacked them... Remember? I told you about that before."

Roy seemed a little relieved but still looked somewhat angry. "and you were seen!?" He growled.

"How was I supposed to know someone would take a picture of me? All I was worried about was my brother!" Ed snapped.

"You have to be more careful, Fullmetal! What makes you think people won't recognize you? You are a famous alchemist! It doesn't matter if they have a camera or something, after this being published people are gonna be LOOKING for you!" Roy argued.

"Well, Sorry! Before Alphonse saw me I usually wore a coat or something to hide my Automail or hair! But then you guys found out about me and I had to be around people again!" Ed snarled.

"And that's a bad thing?! We only want to protect you! What's so bad about that?!"

"I didn't want to hurt you!"

"But truth was lying about the need to kill humans! You aren't going to hurt anyone!" Roy shouted.

"BUT I ALREADY DID!" Ed screamed.

Roy went silent and stared at the enraged teenager in shock. "What?" he murmured.

Edward looked down at the floor and let his bangs cover his face. "I hurt you... I hurt Al and Hawkeye... I tried to kill all of you..." Ed whispered. "I was so scared that you were gonna die... I'm still scared... I don't care if I'm not the one meaning to do it but it's still ME! If Death succeeded I would be the one responsible. The blood would be on MY hands and mine alone. Death is using me against my family... And in the end it's always me who is hurting everyone, not Death..."

Ed was trembling with his fists clenched in anger. He stared at the floor without looking at anyone.

Mustang simply stared speechlessly at him in shock. 'I've never seen Fullmetal like this. He's honestly terrified. He looks just like a lost little kid... But isn't that all he ever was? A kid? It's easy to forget.' Roy thought. 'He blamed himself this whole time? How was he able to hide it so well? Does he think we blame him too?!'

Roy leaned down and put his hand on Ed's shoulder comfortingly. "Ed... I-"

Suddenly Edward stood up from the chair and turned away. Roy caught a glimpse of the tears in Ed's eyes.

'He's crying?' Roy thought in disbelief.

He was about to call out to the boy but Edward suddenly disappeared in a shadowy blur. Roy heard the sound of someone climbing the stairs and ran over to the stairwell and saw Edward swiftly turn down a hallway at the top.

He was using his powers, that much Mustang could tell. Ed was moving inhumanly fast and a strange shadowy material surrounded him like a cloak to shield him from Mustang's eyes.

"Ed!" Roy shouted before hurrying up the stairs after the boy. But he was too slow; The sound of Edward's bedroom door shutting reached Mustang's ears before he was halfway down the hall. He ran to the door and tried to open it but found it to be locked. "Ah, come on Ed..." Roy sighed sadly.

"Go away, I need to be alone for a while..." Ed's voice murmured from within the room.

Roy sighed again and let go of the doorknob. He obeyed Edward's demands and walked away and went back into the living room. He sat down in a recliner with another sigh and let his thoughts wander.

"That poor kid has been through enough! Why did this have to happen to him? I wish he would listen to me, I wanted to tell him that we don't blame him for what happened! Damn kid's too prideful. Wouldn't allow himself to be seen like that, especially by his commanding officer... But I'm not his boss anymore, dammit! I'm his friend! Just trying to be a father trying to protect him. Why won't he let me?" he mumbled to himself. Roy heaved yet another sigh and leaned back against the comfortable chair. "I guess I'll leave him alone for now an let him calm down... He needs to know that I don't hold him responsible for attacking me. Why does he have to blame himself for everything? Ah... Damn kid..." he murmured aloud.

Mustang looked over at a coffee table to his right and took one of the alchemy books that sat on it. he opened the thick volume and began reading. Before he knew it, he was fast asleep with the thick book on his face.

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Unknown to the sleeping general, a pair of glowing golden eyes watched from the dark stairwell. Edward smiled warmly in amusement as he leaned against the wall.

Ed quietly walked over to Roy and gently lifted the book from his face, ignoring the trickle of drool leaking from the sleeping general's mouth. He set the book back down on the coffee table and walked over to a couch that had a blanket draped over the back. Ed pulled the soft material off and covered the sleeping Roy with it before walking back to the stairs.

Edward stopped and turned to look back at his friend with an affectionate smile.

"Sleep well, Dad."

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(;u; D'AAAaAaaAAWWWwwWWWW. Dat was adorableh. Hehe, sleepy Roy is sleepy and moody Eddie is moody. Ed was a bit OOC but meh. :3)

( Okay! This might be the last chapter I post for a while. MIGHT! I could write another chapter but it would probably be short... Anyhoo! I hope you liked the this chapter!)


	17. Chapter 17

Look! A new chapter! :D

I realized I've forgotten to put a disclaimer on some of these chapters so here ya go!

ME NO OWN FMA!

(hehe, this chapter is kinda funny in the beginning. :3)

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-chapter 17

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Roy mustang slowly opened his eyes sleepily and blinked a few times to adjust to the bright light. He sighed and sat up, wiping the drool from his face with his hand.

"Agh... I fell asleep..." He murmured drowsily as he rubbed his eyes. Suddenly Roy straightened up and looked around as if he remembered something. "Oh, no! Edward!" he gasped. 'Shit! I forgot to talk to him! Oh, I hope he didn't run away!' Mustang struggled to get up but found himself tangled up in a blanket. He fell forward face-first into the carpet. 'What the hell? I didn't put that blanket there!' Roy untangled himself from the mysterious blanket and sat up, looking around frantically.

The first thing he saw was a very amused looking Edward sitting on the couch directly in front of him. The boy had his head propped up lazily by his automail arm as he stared down at Roy.

"Hey." Ed murmured casually, waving his flesh hand in a lazy greeting.

Roy gasped and quickly stood up. "Edward! A-Are you alright? I'm sorry about what I said..." he spluttered.

"What do you have to be sorry for?" Edward asked, raising his eyebrow. "I just needed to blow off some steam. I'm the one who should be sorry. But I think the fact that I didn't take a picture of you sleeping like that to blackmail you should be enough to make up for it." Edward smirked when Roy ducked his head in embarrassment. "And... You just looked so peaceful. Well, under that book you were drooling on anyway. So I didn't want to wake you up."

Roy blushed slightly in embarrassment. And sat down on the couch beside Edward. "Thanks for not blackmailing me..."

"You're welcome!" Edward said enthusiastically.

Roy looked around. "Where's Al?"

"He left to go do something in the library..." Ed answered.

"Okay... What are you gonna do? It's gotta be boring here. I have some alchemy books you can read that you might find interesting." Roy offered.

Edward shrugged. "Sure."

"They're in the study. I have to go to work in a little while... I've spent all of my vacation time already..." Mustang sighed and stood up. "You sure you'll be okay alone for a few hours? I shouldn't be long and Al will be back soon."

Edward scowled. "Of course! I'll be fine! What do you think I am, a five year old?"

Roy chuckled. "Sometimes I do."

Edward snorted and walked to the stairs while muttering curses. He climbed the stairs and opened his bedroom door. Ed sighed and threw himself onto the bed on his back, staring up at the ceiling.

"Damn general... Cooping me up in this house... I'm so BORED! I've read almost every book in the study already!" Ed grumbled to himself. He rolled over and stared out the window, big houses surrounded by a few clumps of trees and clean-cut lawns were lined up all along the land. The taller buildings deeper in central could be seen farther away.

"Maybe I can go out for a little while... Al is gone and Roy is leaving anyway..." Ed thought aloud.

He heard the sound of a car start and saw the general's car back out of the driveway and drive off. Ed smiled mischievously. "Going out for a little while wouldn't hurt..

Edward walked up to the window and opened it. The breeze of cool air that blew in only made him want to go out even more. Ed stuck his head through the window and looked down. He was on the second story of Roy's house and it was a long way down...

Edward smirked and shape-shifted into a golden eagle. He yelped as his talons slipped out from under him on the slick wood flooring. "Dammit..." he hissed before steadying himself after a few moments of scrambling around and hopping up into the window. Taking a deep breath of cool air, he spread his wings and leaped from the windowsill.

The rush of adrenaline that you feel when you fall coursed through Edward before he frantically flapped his wings. Luckily he was airborne before he hit the ground and now soared through the air.

"Holy SHIT! this is AWESOME!" Ed screeched happily. He soared higher into the air and did a little loop de loop just for fun. Soon Edward began testing his skills in flight, doing all kinds of tricks and dangerous stunts.

Ed banked up higher and slowed down slightly. He suddenly shape-shifted back into his original human form to free-fall for a few moments. The wind blew harshly against his face as he fell before he shape-shifted back into a bird and opened his wings like a parachute.

"AW HELL YEAH!" Ed shouted happily.

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He spent his time enjoying the feeling of flight and the rush of sky-diving for what felt like only a short while. But once he took the time to look around, he saw the sun was halfway down the sky with only a few hours till sunset. He has been outside for four hours! To top it off, Edward realized that he had NO idea where he was! "Aw shit..."

He started climbing higher and higher into the clear sky until he could see for miles. Ed slowly scanned the big buildings below for Roy's house until he finally spotted it. "Aha! Thank goodness!" he gasped before diving down to the huge three-story house.

"I hope Roy isn't home!"

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~~~~~~Squiggles of meanwhile!-ness~~~~~~

Roy Mustang sighed as he backed his car into the garage and leaned back in his seat to think.

He had only been to work for three and a half hours and he was already exhausted. His hand hurt from signing papers and he had a massive headache. Roy regretted hurrying through his paperwork to get work over faster but there wasn't much else for him to do at the office so he came home early.

Heaving another sigh, Roy opened the door and got out of his car and locked it behind him. He slowly walked into his house and slammed the door.

"Al? Ed? I'm back..." he called drowsily. 'Jeez I am so tired... Taking care of a couple of teenagers isn't very easy...' he thought.

He heard the sound of someone descending the stairs and saw Alphonse poke his head around the corner.

"Oh! General! I'm glad you're back! I have to go back to the library again and Ed would be all alone. At least you're here in case something goes wrong." Al said cheerfully. He headed to the front door and opened it to leave.

"Wait, where is Ed?" Roy asked before the younger Elric could go.

Al turned and smiled, "Brother is in his room, sleeping probably. He's been so quiet! It's kinda nice!" he laughed before waving and closing the front door behind him. Roy chuckled and waved to the boy.

Mustang walked to the stairwell and looked up the stairs. "Hey Ed! I'm back." he called.

No answer

Roy should have ignored the strange silence and decided that Ed was asleep, but instead an uneasy feeling came over him. He felt like something was wrong...

'Ed is never this quiet... He is a light sleeper too... Something's not right.'

Mustang rummaged through his coat pocket for his ignition gloves and pulled then on just in case. With his drowsiness long forgotten, Roy walked up the stairs and down the hall. He slowly approached Edward's bedroom door and knocked.

"Fullmetal?" he called.

again nobody answered. Roy slowly opened the door and froze. Edward wasn't there. The window was wide open and there were claw marks on the floor. Roy's heart sped up as he frantically ran up to the open window and looked outside.

"Ed?!" he shouted. Roy couldn't see anything so he pulled his head back into the room and searched for any clues.

Movement caught his eye. Roy looked down and saw a long golden feather shiver gently in the breeze that blew from the window. Roy's eyes narrowed and he studied the claw marks more intently and found that there were more marks on the windowsill.

"not claws... Talons." Roy mumbled. "That little bastard! He left!" he snarled angrily. "Doesn't he know what will happen if he's found?!" Roy turned back to the window and scowled. "The little brat has to come back some time... He is in SO much trouble..."

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Eddie's turn!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Edward flapped his wings harder as he approached the big house, heading for the still-open window. he hoped that Mustang wasn't home. He didn't see the car so maybe he was scott-free.

Ed fluttered his wings and gently alighted on the windowsill. He shook out his feathers once before shedding them and reverting back into his human form. Ed slowly crawled through the window and quietly closed it behind him.

"And where have you been?" a voice asked from behind the blonde boy.

Edward gasped and spun around, his heart pounding in his chest. Mustang sat on the bed with his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed.

"Well?" Roy snorted.

"Ah shit..."

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(Cliffhanger! Oh yeah! Well... I don't know if you'd consider that a cliffhanger... Oooooh, Roy-boy is maaaaad!)

(this is REALLY my last chapter for a while! xD we have to have EVERYTHING packed tomorrow and shipped across the ocean with our cars. BUT! I might be able to post some more on my mother's laptop so yeah... :3)


	18. Chapter 18

(ANOTHER CHAPTER?! what sorcery is this?! I posted this from my mom's laptop because our computers are gone. I just had such an epic epiphany of authorness that I had to write this and post it! Writer's block destroyed! K.O.! thanks to Fmayang for helping me think of something to write! Go check out her stuff in deviant art, it is awesome. Especially if you are a brony :3 she has the most epical crossover ever. FMA-MLP! but if you aren't a fan of MLP, then she has some epic non-brony stuff too! So check her out!)

Me no own FMA! D:

(ANGST FIESTA! Hope you brought your sombreros!)

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-chapter 18

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Roy glared at Edward and waited for an answer.

"Aw shit..."

Roy scowled. "'Aw shit' is right! You are in so much trouble!"

"I was only outside for a little while!" Ed argued

"Even a little while is dangerous!"

"I was just fine!"

"you could have been SEEN!" Roy growled, raising his voice.

"Well I wasn't!" Ed shouted back.

"But you COULD HAVE!"

"BUT I WASN'T!"

"What if you got hurt?! I wouldn't be able to find you!"

"HELLO?! I'm a HOMUNCULUS! If I get hurt I just regenerate!"

"But your philosopher's stone is weak!"

"IT'S NOT THAT WEAK!"

"WHAT IF DEATH TOOK OVER?! WHAT IF YOU WERE CAUGHT BY SOMEONE AND KILLED?!" Roy shouted, his anger beginning to boil over.

"BUT I WAS FINE! I WASN'T SEEN! BASTARD!" Ed screamed.

Roy clenched his fists and tightly closed his eyes. 'Damn brat! Doesn't he get it?! It doesn't matter if he wasn't caught this time! He needs to be more careful!' Roy thought. He opened his eyes and watched Edward shout at him yet all Mustang could hear was a dull roaring like a river in his head. Edward continued to curse and scream at the enraged general even though it was deaf to Roy's ears.

He closed his eyes tightly again as his anger grew. Roy clenched his teeth and tried to take a deep breath but his rage built until it consumed him in a fiery haze of black.

'You can't escape your anger, mustang.' a voice taunted in Roy's mind. A voice he had long suppressed since the war. All it did was command him to kill, to burn, to destroy. 'Let it take you, let it burn in your heart like you burned ishval... You can rid yourself of this annoyance easily...

"No... I can't..." Roy whispered.

'Why not? He's just a kid, an annoying kid who has tried to kill you! He's never meant anything to you...' the voice sneered.

"But I thought... I thought he loved me like I was his father..."

'No he doesn't, he's using you! He never loved you, he never cared about you... He's just been an annoying thorn in your side, and thorns can easily be burned off...'

The muffled curses from Ed and the roaring if his rage was all Roy could hear. So he listened to that alluring voice, that honey-coated commanding voice. Mustang unconsciously rubbed his fingers against the rough fabric of his ignition gloves, feeling the texture of the powerful weapon that he held.

'Thats it... It's so easy. you are in control, you could kill anyone... All you have to do is snap your fingers...'

Roy's sight was clouded with black, flashes of the Ishvalan war flickered across his vision. Of the destruction. Of the death. of the fire. the fire... it burned an image of carnage in Roy's brain that can never be erased. It was a constant reminder if what he had done.

He could even feel the heat of the flames and the shrieks of the innocent as they burned to death at Roy's hand. Those screams drowned out the dull roaring in his ears and filled his head with their echoing agony. The screams of children, women and men alike. They slowly morphed into a single voice. A voice that sounded frighteningly familiar. A shriek of pain... Edward's shriek of pain.

Edward...

Edward!

Roy's vision cleared of the blackened haze that trapped him in the nightmare. He saw that his arm was raised and his hand was poised to snap. He didn't remember doing that...

Then he looked up at where Edward was standing just moments before. The wall in front of Roy was scorched black with glowing red embers imbedded in the blackened ash. Smoke floated through the air around the room. Mustang was suddenly aware that the screams didn't stop, he could still hear them but Edward was nowhere to be seen. Roy looked down. And saw his worst fear lying there at his feet.

Edward was on the floor, his whole body was on fire. he screamed in agony as the flames burned his skin even after the fire died down. Red lightening crackled violently around the writhing form but it never seemed to heal him fast enough to spare the poor boy from the terrible pain. Edward let out another shriek and curled in on himself to try and escape the searing agony.

Roy's heart pounded in his chest and his black eyes were wide as could be. He just stood there and stared down at his former subordinate in horror. He couldn't move, he couldn't help Edward, couldn't comfort him, he was frozen in shock and terror as the boy cried out again in pain.

'I hurt Edward... I used alchemy on Edward... I BURNED Edward!' Roy's thoughts repeated over and over in disbelief. 'Just like I did to all those Ishvalan children...'

Edward's screams died down to sobs and whimpers as his philosopher's stone slowly healed the searing burns. He trembled in pain, curled up in a pitiful ball.

All Roy wanted to do was hold Edward close and say he was sorry a million times but he couldn't move, his legs refused to work. he knew that a simple apology wouldn't make up for the terrible thing he did. He hurt Edward...

Ed whimpered softly as the last crackle of red alchemic energy sparked around him. The burns were healed but he could still feel their pain. His body was numb from the scorching agony and his mind was trying to wrap itself around the situation.

'H...He... He burned me... R-Roy burned me...' he whimpered to himself disbelievingly.

Edward heard Mustang crouch down next to him. Ed noticed that the general's breathing was fast and panicked and he could hear his heart hammering.

Edward felt Roy's hand touch his shoulder and he flinched away violently and whimpered in fear. Roy quickly pulled his hand back.

"E-Edward?" Roy said softly, his voice grating with grief.

Ed slowly looked up at the general and stared at him with wide terrified golden eyes. "Y...You... H-How could you?" he whimpered

Roy grimaced and shut his eyes tightly. "I... I... Didn't... I didn't mean to... I'm sorry." Mustang whispered. He suddenly pulled Edward close and hugged him tightly, making Edward flinch at the contact. "I'm so sorry!" he sobbed.

Edward trembled in Roy's arms but he didn't try to pull away. "Y-You burned me... How could you?" he repeated.

"I know... I'm sorry! I'm so sorry Ed!" Roy cried.

"W-Why? Why would you do that?" Ed whispered.

"I'm sorry... I wasn't thinking strait. I was just so mad. I let it take me... I let myself hurt my son... I'm sorry." Roy said softly as he stroked Edward's blonde hair.

Ed stayed silent and still while Roy apologized over and over.

"I can never make up for hurting you. I promised myself that I would never hurt my friends; especially with my flames, objects of destruction and death. hurting you was my worst fear... And I did it anyway... I'd understand if you never forgive me but I am truly sorry..." Roy pleaded.

Edward heaved a sigh and wrapped his arms around Roy to return the hug. Mustang was surprised at the act and looked at Ed hopefully.

"I forgive you... I just didn't think that it would ever happen, that you would burn me." Ed murmured. Roy sighed in relief and relaxed slightly. "I have always feared it too, ya know. I've had countless nightmares where you've killed me in more ways than one. I have no idea why my subconscious loves to torture me by creating scenarios in my head that would never happen yet I've always feared they would." Ed said sadly. Roy felt a sharp stab of guilt. "I wonder if the dreams where you burn me to death will stop now that it's actually happened." Ed chuckled weakly in an attempt at humor.

But it failed miserably, only making Roy feel even guiltier. 'He's had nightmares about me?' he thought sadly. 'I had no idea I was causing Edward so much fear... What other things have I done to him in his dreams?' Roy shuddered at the thought of what he could possibly do to the poor boy.

"Mustang?" Ed murmured.

"Yes Fullmetal?"

"Thanks."

Roy was surprised and confused at Edward's unexpected gratefulness. He looked at Ed and raised an eyebrow. "Thanks? For what?" he asked.

Ed smiled. "For helping me." he murmured.

"But all I've done is hurt you..." Roy said sadly.

Edward shook his head. "No, you've been here with me the whole time. That has helped me so much more than you could imagine. The fact that you are here, truly here, despite the risk is something that I could never thank you enough for." Ed murmured.

He gave a sleepy yawn and rested his head on Roy's chest and snuggled closer. Roy stared down at the boy in surprise. Edward was SLEEPING on the 'general bastard.'

'Okay... Who is this kid and what has he done with Fullmetal?'

But this whole thing just felt so right. Like Roy was meant to be here with Edward, to give the boy a shoulder to lean on, a father to look up to.

Mustang smiled warmly and stroked the boy's golden hair, holding Edward close to his heart, promising that he would always be safe there.

-

A noise interrupted Roy's thoughts. He looked up at the doorway from where he sat on the floor, holding Edward. Alphonse stood in the hallway and stared at the scene before him in surprise. He looked at the scorched wall in shock and a tiny trace of fear. But once his gaze traveled to Mustang and Edward, his mouth dropped in disbelief.

"W...What happened while I was gone?" Al gasped.

Roy smiled and chuckled, "Long story."

* * *

(DAAAAAAAWWWW! Sleepy Eddie is sleepy, and angry angsty Roy is angry and angsty. :3)


	19. Chapter 19

**Hey peeps! I'm finally moved in! Ah... The scorching sun of Nevada, how I missed you so... But I do miss my ocean view back in Sitka. ):**  
**Oh well! :3 I get to be with my friends again and there is an actual Walmart! I've never missed Walmart so much... Yeah... Sitka didn't have much at all. But I do miss the beautiful scenery, the temperate rainforest weather, and the definite lack of ants. Jeez, I did NOT miss the ants in Nevada... *shudders* did I mention I have a massive phobia of ants? It's just... How they swarm and cover an object in a writhing blanket of red and black... Augh...**

**OKAY! Enough rambling! On with the chapter!**

Me no own FMA! (or Scooby Do which is referenced in this chapter)

-chapter 19

* * *

"Agh... This is pointless..." Edward sighed. He loudly closed the thick book he was reading and dropped it on a pile of assorted alchemy books and sat back to think.

"But we have to keep trying, brother! There could be some useful information somewhere!" Alphonse said without looking up from his book.

"I doubt it... We've been searching for so long... I don't think the books in all of central has anything on how to remove a second soul..." Ed replied.

"But there might be!" Al argued.

"There was barely anything about the philosopher's stone so what makes you think there would be something about homunculi! Much less how to remove a homunculus soul..." Ed sighed and buried his face in his hands.

Alphonse looked up at his brother sympathetically. "We'll fix this, Ed. You figured out how to get my original body back and now we will figure out how to return you to normal."

Ed sighed again and got up off the floor. "I'm gonna go lay down for a while... I'm so tired of reading." he murmured to Al before stepping over the huge mound of books. He walked out of the general's study room and through the hall to the stairs. Ed slowly trudged down the steps to the living room and flopped down on one of the couches.

Edward stared up at the ceiling and watched the shadows cast by the fireplace dance over the walls. He sighed again for the millionth time and rested the cold metal of his automail arm on his forehead.

"Dammit... We haven't gotten any closer to getting rid of that psycho inside me." Ed murmured to himself. "I feel so useless. I can't do anything! I wish Roy would let me go outside and get some fresh air to clear my head. I could just shape shift into someone else and go for a little walk." he rolled over and stared longingly at the front door. But then he shook his head vigorously. "I don't want Roy to get mad again..." Ed slowly shut his eyes and gave into exhaustion, his breathing deepened until he fell asleep.

* * *

Edward had only been asleep for a few minutes when the sound of a door opening woke him. He groggily looked up and saw Roy walk inside and hang his military jacket on the coat rack.

"Hey general bastard, you're home early." Ed mumbled, glancing at the clock that hung above the fireplace.

Roy looked up and noticed Edward laying on the couch. "Oh, Fullmetal. Sorry if I woke you up, I just need to grab an extra pair of ignition gloves and then I have to go back to work." he said as he walked past Edward and opened a closet on the other side of the room.

Edward sat up and watched him. "Another pair of gloves? Why do you need ignition gloves if you're just doing paperwork?" he asked.

Roy pulled out a small locked box and opened it. "I've been ordered to lead a group of soldiers and inspect a warehouse in town where a local gang has been sighted. I don't know what will be in there so I wanted an extra pair of gloves just in case and the house was closer so I stopped by." he answered as he opened the box and pulled out a pair of white gloves and put them in his pocket.

Edward perked up and grinned. "Oh! C-Can I come?" he asked excitedly. "I know what you are gonna say but I'll be really careful! Please, Roy? I feel so useless! Let me to go do something. If not on my own then why not with you?"

Roy stood gaping at Edward. "What?! Hell no! What if you get caught?! The military has been swarming with rumors about you after that newspaper article was published and none of them are positive! They think you are an abomination and should be destroyed! I will be with a bunch if soldiers too, none of my team will be there!" Roy exclaimed.

Edward scowled. "But I'll stay out if sight! I'm really good at it. How do you think I avoided being seen for five months before Al found me? Come on! I want to do something other than read! We haven't gotten any closer to returning me to normal and I want a break to get some fresh air!" Ed argued.

"No! I'm not going to risk it!" Roy yelled.

"Come on! You owe me after what you did to me!" Ed shouted.

Mustang froze and stared at Edward. Ed felt a small stab of guilt for bringing up what happened days ago but he ignored it.

Roy too felt guilty, but for a different reason. He knew what he did to Edward that day should never be forgiven and nothing he could do would make up for it.

'I could at least start trying now... Maybe I should let him come along.' he thought. Mustang sighed and dropped his head in defeat. "Fine... You can come... But if anything goes wrong I want you to get away as fast as you can." Roy said sternly.

Edward's eyes lit up with excitement and he leaped to his feet. "Thank you! I'll be right back." he shouted before rushing up the stairs.

Roy raised his eyebrow. 'Did Fullmetal just say thank you?' he thought as he watched Ed run off.

Edward ran down the hallway to his room and quickly grabbed a brown coat. He then ran over to the study room and stuck his head inside.

Alphonse was surrounded by books in the small library. He glanced up from the book he was reading and saw his brother. "Hey Ed. Is there something you need?" he asked warily, knowing that the excited look in Ed's eyes usually meant trouble.

Edward grinned and shook his head. "Nope! I just wanted to let you know that I'm gonna go out with the general for a while! See you later!" Ed said before running back downstairs to where Roy was waiting.

Mustang saw Edward rush back into the room carrying a dark jacket. "Ready?" he asked.

Edward smiled. "Yup!"

"then let's go." Roy opened the front door and walked outside with Ed following close behind. 'Ho boy... This is gonna be interesting...'

~~~~~~~squiggles of time skippiness~~~~~~~

The black vehicle pulled into an alley and parked next to a huge building. Roy mustang opened his door and got out while Edward stayed in the car to wait for Roy to tell him when it was okay to leave.

Roy straightened his uniform and left the alley and approached a small group of soldiers with a couple of track dogs who were sanding near the entrance of a huge warehouse building. The officers noticed him approaching and saluted the general. Roy waved his hand dismissively and the soldiers stopped the salute.

"Okay... So everyone is here then?" Roy asked.

A soldier stepped forward. "Y-Yes sir. But... I thought you were supposed to bring lieutenant Hawkeye's dog here." he stammered nervously.

Roy froze and mentally slapped himself. 'Augh... I forgot Black Hayate...' he thought. Suddenly he smirked and stood up strait. "Oh, yes. I have Hayate with me, one second." he said before turning around and walking back into the alley.

He approached his car and opened the passenger door. Edward was sitting there fiddling with his automail arm before he looked up at the general. "Can I come out now?" he asked.

Roy laughed nervously. "Uh... Not exactly... Do you think you could shape-shift into a dog?" he asked.

Edward gave Roy a blank stare. "A dog? Why?"

"Well I was supposed to bring Hayate but I forgot to pick him up. At least you can shape shift to look like him and come along."

Edward sighed and shook his head in annoyance. "Alright... But it's your fault for forgetting that mangy mutt."

Ed concentrated and shape-shifted into a dog with the same markings and color as Black Hayate. Roy glanced around nervously in case any of the other soldiers saw the faint red light that flashed from the alley.

Edward looked at himself curiously. "Well this is weird... No thumbs." he barked.

Roy chuckled and motioned to Edward to get out of the car and follow him. Ed obeyed and trotted after the general.

Roy walked up to the soldiers and began talking to them. But Edward didn't really pay attention to what was being said, he was too busy getting used to his new form. He wiggled his paws experimentally and wagged his tail, ignoring the urge to chase it.

"Then we will check if there is any sign of the gang and arrest them if we find them." Roy was saying.

A soldier looked down at Edward and raised his eyebrow when he saw the dog lift his paw to his face and stare at it. "Excuse me, sir. But should that dog be on a leash? I mean... There are other attack dogs here..." he warned.

Roy looked down at Ed, who seemed angry upon hearing the soldier's question. "No, Hayate is trained extremely well." he said. "Just let them get used to each other."

Just as Roy said that a female Belgian Malinois approached Edward and stared down at him curiously.

_'threat?'_ the big brown canine growled warily.

Ed nearly gasped when he actually understood what the dog said. He tilted his head and tried to reply. 'No' he finally barked softly.

'_Friend?'_

_'Yes'_

Edward's ears perked up when he heard something approach and looked to his right and saw another dog walk up. It was a male Belgian Malinois just like the other dog. This one was quite intimidating, he was dark brown with black patterns along his back and face. He glared down at Ed with fierce black eyes.

_'Foe?'_ He rumbled.

Edward backed up a step and gulped. _'Uh... N-No...'_ he squeaked.

The female dog walked up to her companion and nudged him. _'He's friend.'_ she yipped. She then turned back to Ed and barked,_ 'Kona'_ which Ed guessed was her name.

Then the bigger male stepped up and said, _'Niels.'_

The two big dogs suddenly came forward and stuck their noses into Ed's fur. Edward jumped in surprise and glanced up at Roy who was watching with a smirk on his face.

"Aw, they are making friends already." Roy said cheekily.

Edward glared at him. Before returning his attention to the two huge dogs sniffing him. They both suddenly moved to his backside and sniffed his butt. Ed jumped in shock and disgust and looked back up at Roy. The general was grinning down at his friend as his personal space was violated by a couple of dogs.

"Roy... Help me..." Ed whispered quietly.

Mustang's grin grew bigger and he looked evilly down at Edward. "Well go on Hayate. Say hi." he chuckled.

Edward stared at him in horror. But then the gazes of the other soldiers caught his eye. They were watching him and the other dogs 'greet' one another.

"Go on." Roy prompted again.

Edward gave him a glare that said 'I hate you. I will KILL you.' before reluctantly turning to the other dogs who were waiting for their new friend to greet then back. Ed grimaced and did as he was told, giving the dogs' butts a whiff before rushing away in embarrassment.

Roy was trying so hard not to laugh but was failing terribly. Edward glared at him hatefully and bit his ankle. Roy yelped and stopped laughing.

Mustang sighed and then turned back to his men. "Now that that's over with we will move out at once. Team one check the west side of the warehouse and take Kona. Team two check the east side with Niels. I will check the upper floor with Hayate." Roy commanded.

"Yes sir!" The troops chanted with a salute before rushing off to fulfill their duties. Niels and Kona seemed reluctant to leave their new friend but were loyal to their commanders and soon followed.

'_Stay safe.'_ Kona whimpered quietly. Ed nodded in response and watched her trot off after her team.

As soon as the other soldiers left, Edward spun around and glared up at Mustang. "Bastard! You are so dead for making me sniff a dog's butt! I'm gonna strangle you in your sleep!" Ed barked angrily.

Roy laughed and patted Edward on the head and walked away. "I'd like to see you try, ya mangy mutt." He said.

"H-Hey! Get back here!" Ed growled before scampering after Mustang.

~~~~~~~~~~~ time squigglies o3o~~~~~~~~~~~

"So how long am I gonna have to be a dog?" Edward asked as he trotted along beside Roy. They were steadily searching the top floor as planned while the other soldiers searched the bottom floor and the next building over to the right that was also potentially the gang's hideout.

"The whole mission in case any soldiers see you. Besides, it's easier this way." Roy answered.

"Agh... What are we supposed to be doing anyway?" Edward snorted.

"We are searching the building for a dangerous gang leader that was spotted in the area. There may be more than one person here and they are most likely armed so I brought my gloves." Roy answered.

Edward tilted his head curiously. "Gang leader?"

Roy nodded. "Yeah. Their gang is notorious for violence, hostility towards civilians and the military, vandalism, and drug-dealing. It is very important that they are taken care of. So if we can capture their leader it would be great, obviously."

Edward didn't reply and simply continued to walk alongside Mustang loyally.

This dark building was really giving them the creeps. Shadows moved along the walls and quiet noises creaked in the darkness. But Edward assured Roy that there wasn't anyone there, he couldn't smell anything except the damp concrete.

It continued like that, Ed and Roy wandering around in the darkness with only Ed's nose and a flashlight to guide them. It seemed to never end, the building must be bigger than they expected.

"Agh... This is taking forever." Roy groaned. "I hope the other soldiers are having more luck than we are. I'm starting to think that the gang isn't even h-" Roy was suddenly silenced by a snarl. He stopped walking and looked back at Edward. The black-and-white dog was tense and alert with is teeth bared and his ears angled towards a door that was half open revealing a stairwell on the other side of the room.

"what is it, Ed?" Roy whispered as he cautiously approached Edward.

Ed didn't answer. His hackles rose and he growled at some unseen enemy.

"what's wrong?" Roy asked again, crouching down next to the dog.

"Something's up there..." Ed growled. "And I don't think they are friendly."

"is it the people we are looking for?" Mustang whispered.

"I don't know..." Ed answered. He lifted his nose and sniffed the air again. "maybe."

Roy nodded and began walking towards the door. Ed snarled and bit down on his pants before Roy could leave. Mustang looked back at Ed in confusion.

"don't." Ed growled. "it might not be safe. Let me go first."

Roy stared at the small dog for a moment before reluctantly nodding his head. Edward let go of him and cautiously padded over to the open door. He stuck his head in and sniffed the air before turning back to Roy.

"Stay here." Ed commanded.

The dog opened the door wider and made his way inside. He carefully climbed the long staircase and approached the metal door at the top. Giving it a sniff, Ed decided that it was safe and pushed it open.

Light immediately flooded his vision when the door swung open. The cloudy sky rumbled high above Edward's head as he looked around. He was on the roof but he couldn't see anyone.

Ed sniffed again and stiffened. The smell was still there.

Before Ed could turn around, he was suddenly suspended in the air. He yelped in surprise as strong hands violently lifted him off the ground. Ed struggled furiously against the grip of the unknown person.

"look what we've got here! A tiny puppy! We were expecting the Flame alchemist, not a little dog!" A male voice sneered.

'LITTLE?!' Ed's thoughts screamed. He suddenly turned his head and bit the hand of his captor.

A hiss of pain was heard and the grip on his body was gone. Ed yelped as he hit the ground but quickly recovered from the pain and spun around to face whoever was behind him.

Six men dressed in dark clothes stood there. They each carried a gun or a knife. The man who grabbed Ed was nursing his hand that was bleeding slightly from the bite. He scowled down at Ed and let go of his hand.

"You little shit!" The man snarled. Edward yelped in pain as he was suddenly kicked, sending him flying across the roof. The poor dog skidded to a halt on the roof's edge just before he fell off entirely.

"Ed?! What's going on up there?" Mustang's voice shouted from the stairs.

The man turned to look at the stairwell door and scowled. He motioned to four of his men and pointed at the door. "Go take care of the alchemist! We will handle the mutt." He commanded. The chosen men obeyed their leader and ran down the stairs with their guns raised.

"Roy!" Ed gasped. "Leave him alone!" He gasped in human language. He realized his mistake and clamped his mouth shut. 'Oh shit...'

The two remaining men were shocked that the small black dog spoke.

"What's this? A talking dog? Oh, that's rich! Were you sent here to solve a mystery, Scooby?" The gang leader laughed. "I think I might have a Scooby snack in my pocket, hold on a second." He began rummaging in his jacket pocket. "Aha!" He suddenly pulled out a gun and pointed it at Ed. "Here's your Scooby snack." He sneered before pulling the trigger.

Edward gasped and leaped up to dodge the bullet that was fired. Pain flared up in his hind leg, making him stumble to the ground with a loud cry. He looked back at his leg and saw a bullet hole oozing blood just above the joint.

The gang leader scoffed and walked up to Edward and pointed the gun at his head. "Bye-bye Scooby." He chuckled. Ed's eyes widened in fear as he stared at the barrel of a pistol.

~~~~~~~~~~~MEANWHILE! :3~~~~~~~~~~~

Kona trotted beside her master loyally as they scoped out the west side of the warehouse. Her tongue lolled as she happily walked around, sniffing at anything suspicious.

_'I'm happy I made a friend today!'_ She thought. _'Heyate seems nice! I hope he's okay.' She brushed the thought away. 'Of course he is. Heyate may be small and he may smell strange but he's strong!'_

Kona trotted up to a door and sniffed at it. She lowered her tail to signal that there wasn't anything dangerous there to the soldiers.

Her pointed ears perked up and she turned to look across the room. Niels and his team were returning from their search of the other building. Kona looked up at her partner for permission to greet the other attack dog. The soldier nodded and took her off the leash.

Kona happily trotted over to Niels who had also been let off his leash. They sniffed each other in greeting, taking in the information the smells provided. Kona's tail drooped.

'Failed too?' She whined.

'Yes.' Niels whimpered.

Kona licked his ear in a comforting gesture. _'It's okay. Hayate is with master Flame, they will find enemy.'_ She barked softly.

Niels licked the younger dog back and sat next to her. They both waited for their masters to finish talking to each other about what to do next.

Suddenly gunshots were heard and then the sound of a small explosion. Kona and Niels leaped to their paws and frantically looked around.

"That must be the general!" A soldier gasped. He motioned to half of the men. "You guys call for backup! Wait out here!" He commanded.

The three men he chose nodded and watched as the others ran towards the stairs that lead to the second floor. The two dogs beat them to it, both of the trained canines sprinted up the stairs with lightening speed.

Another set of gunshots were heard but this time they were quieter like they came from two floors up. Then a smaller sound followed the shots. It was so quiet that the soldiers didn't notice, but it stuck out like a red flag for the dogs. A canine's shriek of pain.

Kona looked at Niels as they ran side-by-side. Her eyes were wide in terror and she could smell Niels's fear too. He stared back at her.

_'Hayate!'_ They gasped. Both immediately sped up, flying over the ground towards their friend.

The dogs turned a corner and saw five men fighting each other. Four of them were shooting at one that was dressed in a military uniform. Kona and Niels recognized him as master Flame not only by scent, but by his signature flame alchemy he was firing at his attackers.

Kona and Niels sped past the fighting men instead of helping. They knew that the other soldiers were following and would help the general so the dogs decided to continue up to the roof and save their friend instead.

Niels dodged a stray ball of flame and continued running alongside Kona towards the stairwell door on the other side of the room. They barged past the door and sprinted up the stairs as quick as possible. the two dogs leaped over the last few steps and pushed open the door at the top.

Immediately the sight of two men standing over a black and white dog caught their eyes. Kona's hackles raised while Niels bared his teeth and snarled.

_'Hayate!'_ They both howled.

They bounded across the roof and leaped at the two men. Niels clamped his jaws over the gang leader's arm, making him drop the gun. Kona tackled the other man to the ground and began tearing at his shirt.

Once the two guys were distracted, Ed healed the gunshot wound and scrambled to his paws. Edward stared at his rescuers with surprise and joy sparkling in his gold eyes. 'Niels! Kona!' He howled happily.

Kona looked up at him and howled back,_ 'Packs keep friends safe! Denmates protect each other!'_

Edward smiled inwardly. 'They consider me part of their pack?' He thought. 'Now I see why Roy loves dogs so much!'

Edward let out another howl and leaped at the gang leader who was still flailing around with Niels attached to his arm. Ed sank his fangs into the man's leg and pulled it out from under him while Niels wrestled him to the ground. The gang leader fell like a tree, crashing down to the concrete roof. Niels released the man's arm and leaped onto his back to pin him to the ground.

_'You fight well!'_ Niels barked.

Ed smiled a fanged doggie-smile. _'I get that a lot!'_ He replied.

Niels suddenly growled as his prisoner began to struggle violently under his paws. 'Enemy stay down!' He snarled. He looked back at Ed and tried to speak but the man thrashed around again, kicking his legs and cursing savagely at the attack dog on top of him.

Niels's eyes widened and he frantically shook his head at Edward. '_Hayate! Watch out!_' He howled.

Ed gasped as the struggling man's leg collided with his side. He yelped in pain and surprise when his body was kicked away, flying through the air.

_'Hayate!'_ Niels and Kona shrieked.

Edward's eyes widened as he tumbled towards the edge of the roof. He caught the ledge with his front claws but the rest of body slid over and dangled above an alley. He could feel his claws slowly slip. Ed scrabbled at the bricks with his back paws but he couldn't pull himself back up.

_'N-Niels! Kona! Help!'_ Ed howled.

His friends leaped off of their enemies and ran over to the edge of the roof. _'Hayate! Hold on!'_ They gasped.

Ed felt his claws slowly slide off the concrete despite his frantic attempts at pulling himself up. He whimpered and scrabbled at the ledge with his front paws as he slid off the roof.

Kona and Niels skidded to a halt in front of him and tried grabbing his scruff but their jaws snapped shut on empty air as Ed plummeted down to the pavement far below.

_'HAYATE!'_ The dogs howled down at their falling friend.

Edward flailed in the air and tried to shape-shift into a bird but his head was spinning too fast. He reverted back to his original human form as he fell.

"SHIIIT!" Ed shrieked as the pavement came to meet him.

Edward gasped in agony as he struck the ground. He tried breathing slowly against the pain while he waited for his broken bones to heal. The red light crackled through the air around his body and the pain slowly subsided.

Ed looked at himself and took a deep breath. "dammit. I'm gonna have to get a new shirt..." He hissed, glaring at his ripped clothes.

Edward tried to get up but he was still in pain so he just fell back down. Smaller bursts of red alchemic energy sparked around him, healing smaller wounds. He took a deep breath and sat up, hissing in pain as his head spun from the fall.

"Dammit... Why can't I heal headaches too?" He growled, holding his head in his hands.

Ed heard a quiet click from behind. But before he could look he suddenly found himself sprawled on the pavement again with fresh pain spiking from his stomach and blood spilling from his abdomen.

"W-What the hell?!" Ed spluttered.

The wound quickly healed and the blood stopped flowing. Ed staggered to his feet and turned around. He froze in fear and his eyes widened in terror, his heart pounded in his chest when he saw what had hurt him.

He was spotted by the military.

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***(Muahaaaha! Cliffhanger! I'm so evil :3 I hope you enjoyed this extra long chapter! Also, I'm really cruel to poor Eddie in the next one :3 )**

***DOGGIE RANT!***  
**(the two attack dogs that are in this chapter are based on real dogs. My uncle had a partner that was a Belgian Malinois. His name was Niels, like the dog in the chapter. (but the real Niels wasn't as friendly as the one in the story.) He was an excellent police dog, and quite intimidating too. But my uncle moved to a different part of the police force (he used to be in SWAT) so Niels was taken from him. But he liked the breed so much he bought another Mal and gave it to his son. Her name was Kona. This one was not an attack dog but it was trained in another language just like Niels, in Czech.)**

**(A bit about the breed:)**  
**(Belgian Malinois are big dogs that are frequently used as police dogs for both tracking and attacking. As you can guess they are extremely intelligent and loyal. (But they cost a BUTT LOAD, soooo yeah) They look like German shepherds and have the same color patterns. But they are taller, skinnier, and more powerful than German shepherds. They have longer legs and a longer, pointier muzzle. Their tails aren't curved like German shepherds and are slightly longer. they have corse hair that doesn't bush out. So they aren't fluffeh :3)**


	20. Chapter 20

(In response to renA (guest)'s review: Why? Because fish, :3)

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*I don't own FMA

(Sorta short chappie)

- Chapter 20

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A huge group of soldiers were gathered at the entrance of the alley. They each had their guns out and pointed at Edward, ready to shoot again. Some of the men seemed to be scared of him, their guns trembling ever so slightly.

Edward didn't dare move, he kept his wide golden eyes on the hostile soldiers. The military personnel stared back, fear and rage shining in their eyes. Ed gulped and tried to slow his panicked breathing. He looked the soldiers over again.

His eyes stopped on a certain blonde man amid the others. Denny Brosh. Edward relaxed slightly in relief. He was happy to see at least one familiar face.

"Brosh, thank goodness you're here." Ed sighed.

Denny stiffened when his name was called. He couldn't believe his eyes, his friend Edward was standing right in front of him. But he had been at the boy's funeral, saw his body with his own two eyes. So why the hell is a dead person standing right in front if him?!

Denny didn't say anything, he stared at Ed in disbelief and fear. He'd heard the rumors and read the article about the homunculus, he knew that the homunculus looked like Edward and was extremely dangerous and hostile. But he never thought it was true until now. But he just saw this teenager heal himself from a fall that could easily kill a normal person.

"Denny." Ed called again, taking a step towards the soldiers.

Denny stiffened and raised his weapon and pointed it at the homunculus. Edward froze and stared at his friend with wide eyes.

"Brosh... What are you doing? It's me, Edward." Ed hissed.

"E...Edward Elric is dead." Denny stammered. He gulped and took a deep breath. "Y-You aren't Edward... You're a monster."

Edward's eyes widened and he took another step forward. "D-Denny... It's me... Your friend." He said softly.

Denny suddenly looked furious, his fear long forgotten. "You aren't my friend... You're an imposter, a MONSTER!" He shouted before pulling the trigger.

Edward gasped as the bullet tore into his chest. He doubled over and whimpered in pain. But it was only a few moments until the wound healed with a flash of red. Ed grimaced and looked up at the gathered soldiers. Denny was watching the boy with cold eyes, his gun still pointed at him.

Edward stood up straight as last flickers of alchemic energy crackled around his body. The soldiers readied their weapons to shoot again now that they were sure Ed was a homunculus. His regenerative abilities giving him away and destroying his chances at persuasion.

Edward frantically looked around for an escape but found none. He was surrounded by brick walls and the soldiers blocked the only exit.

Edward took another deep breath and looked back at his attackers, eyes shining with determination as he formed a plan. The soldiers became uneasy, they knew that the homunculus was going to try something.

Edward slowly lifted his arms and brought his palms together. The soldiers tensed but didn't shoot. Edward grinned evilly and suddenly slammed his hands on the pavement. Red alchemic energy spread up one of the alleys brick walls and moved towards the military personnel. The soldiers gasped and tried to get out of the way in fear that it was a attack.

But Edward didn't even create anything with his alchemy, only used it as a distraction. Ed laughed and charged at the distracted soldiers. He tried shape-shifting into a cheetah to sprint past the armed men.

But Edward hadn't even gotten halfway across the alley before he was knocked to the ground. Ed struggled to get up but pain assaulted him again and three more gunshots boomed. He yelped as more bullets tore into his body and forced him to fall back to the ground.

The soldiers fired again. the bullets mercilessly pierced Edward over and over, his body was jolted back and forth from the force. Four more shots were fired, three of them hit their target. But then the assault stopped. The soldiers must have ran out of ammunition in their guns, giving Ed a moment to breath.

Blood was pooling on the pavement where Edward was lying, streaming from several bullet holes in his stomach and chest. They slowly healed but the pain still remained, making Ed's head spin.

"Get up, homunculus! There is no escape!" A soldier shouted furiously.

Edward whimpered and shakily tried to stand but fell back to his knees, breathing heavily. He stared at the soldiers, fear shining in his gold eyes.

'Shit. I don't think I can survive much more of this! they're gonna kill me!' Ed's thoughts screamed.

Edward stared at the soldier who spoke, his eyes pleading with him. But the man was cold and firm. He motioned to the people behind him and the soldiers loaded their guns for another round.

Ed made a whimpering sound and lowered his head in defeat, tightly closing his eyes. 'I can't escape... I'm going to die.' He thought in despair.

Edward heard the sound of guns being raised. He tensed and waited for the rain of bullets that would end his life.

"Fullmetal!" A voice shouted from above.

Edward opened his eyes and looked up. Roy was staring down at him from the roof he fell from. Mustang's black eyes widened in terror as he looked at the carnage below. The walls of the alley were splattered with blood and Edward's clothes were soaked in it.

"EDWARD!" Roy screamed again.

The soldiers looked up at the general in confusion. "General! What are you doing?! Help us kill it!"

Ed took advantage of the distraction and tried shape shifting. He was suddenly surrounded by red lightening, making his attackers gasp and shield their eyes from the light.

But He wasn't able to fully shift and ended up with a human-sized pair of barn owl wings on his shoulders and a patch feathers stuck to his back. He had a tail made of a fan of huge feathers for steering. His pupils were much bigger, the gold color was only a thin ring around his black pupil like an owl (I'd imagine that'd look kinda creepy :3). Edward's legs were slightly longer and skinnier with some feathers attached to them.

The soldiers gasped when they saw the creature. "A monster! Kill it!" Someone shouted. The men hurriedly aimed their weapons at Edward.

Ed's strange eyes widened. he let out a warped bird-like shriek and leaped into the air. He frantically flapped his wings and rocketed straight up and out of the alley.

"Edward!" Roy shouted as Ed flew into the sky, only appearing as a tan-and-white blur.

Edward squawked and flapped his wings downwards, effectively stopping his ascent. He circled above Mustang and let out another high-pitched cry.

Gunshots boomed from the alley, bullets flying towards the chimera-like homunculus. Ed gasped and quickly dodged the flurry of bullets but one scraped his wing. He shrieked in pain and frantically flapped to regain his flight.

"Ed!" Roy shouted worriedly. Blood dripped onto the roof from the flailing bird's wing.

Edward heard the soldiers shout from below and looked down. They were aiming their weapons for another round of bullets. Ed's eyes widened and he squawked in terror.

Edward suddenly locked his eyes on Roy and dove towards the roof. The soldiers below shouted a frantic warning to their general. Ed shrieked and back flapped before he hit the roof with full force. He suddenly latched onto Roy and lifted him into the air in a flurry of feathers.

"GENERAL!" The military personnel screamed as their commander was carried off by the homunculus to who knows where.

Edward furiously flapped his wings to get away from the danger. Roy stared down at the buildings whip by below, the structures soon gave way to the forest on the outskirts if central. Roy tightly held onto Edward for dear life as they flew through the air with lightening speed, wind violently whipping against their faces.

Roy noticed Edward was starting to slow down. He breathed a sigh of relief, hoping that Ed had decided to land. But he suddenly realized that the boy's breathing was ragged and fast. Not only that but Ed's wing strokes were getting clumsier and more weak. Roy looked up at Edward and saw an exhausted and pained expression on his face.

"You okay Edward?" Mustang asked worriedly.

Ed shook his head and took another ragged breath. "I... I can f-feel it..." Ed weakly coughed.

Roy felt Edward's grip slipping. "What's wrong?! Are you hurt?" He shouted

"I... Can't..." Edward's words trailed off into nothing. his eyes rolled back in his head and his grip was suddenly gone.

And they began to fall.

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(MUAHAHHAAA! cliffhanger! again :3)


	21. Chapter 21

*EDIT* I changed the end of this chapter and added to it. read it or else some things in the next chapter won't make sense.

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*(I added a random little crack-tastic thing at the end of chapter 7 that has nothing to do with the actual chapter. :3 but it has something to do with Nullmetal alchemist)*

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(Sorry if this chapter seems rushed. I was hurrying to write it Dx )

(warning: this chapter is a bit OOC)

Me no own FMA!

-chapter 21

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Mustang groggily opened his eyes to see a veil of green leaves and branches. He tried to move but his body ached all over. Roy finally managed to sit up and found himself surrounded by cracked branches in a huge oak tree. He cradled his head as it pounded with pain from a headache.

"Where am I?" Roy murmured to no one in particular. He suddenly remembered what had happened. "Fullmetal!" He gasped, frantically looking around. When Roy found no short blonde in sight he began to panic. "Shit! Edward!" He called. Again there was no answer.

Roy frantically climbed down the tree, the ache in his body long forgotten. He looked around while calling for his former subordinate. Ed was nowhere to be seen.

"Edward!, where are you, you little bastard!" Roy called into the trees. No answer. "Shit, where is he?" He murmured worriedly.

Edward wasn't exactly in perfect shape when Mustang last saw him. What was wrong with Ed? Why did he suddenly fall out of the sky? Roy wasn't sure, but it scared him to think what his friend's condition was now after falling from that height.

Mustang started searching the trees nearby for any sign of the short alchemist. He called out Edward's name while trying to see through layers of branches and leaves, looking for any sign of the boy. A feather, a spot of blood, a piece of clothing, anything!

Roy desperately hoped Ed landed in one of the trees like he did, but he was lucky when he fell into that big oak. If Ed didn't land in one, the result could be devastating. The poor kid would fall much faster than Roy would, Ed had heavy automail. The Impact would tear a person apart.

Roy shook his head at that thought, Mustang was going to find that little brat and he would be just fine!

Just as that thought crossed his mind, a certain pine tree branch caught his eye. He quickly ran over to the tree and looked. Several branches along the top of the tree were broken and damaged as if something hit them. a couple of tan feathers were caught on the cracked branches and even a few specks of blood could be seen. Roy's heart sped up as he ran up to another tree. This one had similar damage but there was more blood. Edward must have been falling too fast to be caught by the branches and instead plowed right through them.

Roy didn't want to think about what might have happened to Ed once he landed... Mustang again shook the thought away and continued following the trail of destruction.

Luckily he didn't have to go far. The sound of faint alchemic energy crackled from somewhere ahead. Roy gasped and sprinted towards the noise. He swerved around trees and bushes until he climbed over a steep rise and saw what was at the end of the trail of damaged trees.

Edward's body was laying in a gash in the forest floor at the base of a small tree that had a slight crack in the trunk from the impact. Ed trembled uncontrollably against the tree with wide and terrified golden eyes. His arms were tightly wrapped around his chest as alchemic energy arced around Ed's body, slowly healing his devastating wounds. He was no longer shape-shifted into a bird but bloody ragged feathers were scattered around the area of destruction.

"Fullmetal!" Roy shouted. He practically flew to the boy's side and began looking him over. "Are you okay?! Talk to me!"

Ed didn't respond, his breathing grew even more ragged and fast. He tightened his hold around his chest and slightly curled himself protectively with a quiet whimper.

"Why are you doing that? What's the matter?!" Mustang asked desperately. "What's wrong with your chest? Is there a wound? Let me help!" Roy tried prying Ed's arms away from himself but the terrified boy simply tightened his grip and quickened his breathing.

"Calm down, Ed! What's the matter?! I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong!" Roy shouted, slightly angry at Ed's lack of communication. But he took a deep breath to calm his anger and tried approaching the matter differently.

"Okay, Ed. I need you to calm down and tell me what's wrong." Roy said softly. Edward tried to stop his heavy breathing but was only able to slow it slightly. "Good. You're doing fine. Now can you tell me what's wrong with you?" Mustang murmured.

Edward took a shaky breath but kept his arms protectively wrapped around himself. "I... I can f-feel it..." He whimpered. his flesh hand moved up to where his heart was and tightly grabbed his shirt.

"You can feel what, Ed?" Roy asked.

Edward's trembling increased slightly and he closed his eyes tight. "T-The stone... M-My philosopher's stone." He whispered, his fear heavy in his voice.

Roy's eyes widened. "What about the stone? What's wrong with it?!" He gasped.

Edward opened his eyes and looked up at Mustang, terror and grief clouding the brilliant golden color. "It's weaker... I-It's nearly gone. It's almost completely used up!" Ed whimpered.

Roy stared at Edward in horror, he couldn't move or speak. Dreadful thoughts clouded his mind. 'If the stone runs out, Ed will die! I can't let him get hurt! But how are we going to stop Death when he takes over?! Shit shit SHIT!'

Edward's strength seemed to be returning. His breathing was steadier now and his trembling decreased. Ed slowly sat up and unwrapped his arms from around his chest. But his flesh hand still held onto his shirt over his heart as if he were in pain.

"I can feel how weak it is. It probably only has a few human lives left! It'll kill me if it runs out! I-It's going to disappear if anything else happens. I don't know what to do!" Ed shouted in frustration. He then bowed his head and let his hair cover his eyes. " I don't want to leave Al all alone again... I-I don't want to die..." He whimpered quietly.

Roy's heart broke upon hearing Ed sound so scared and hopeless. He didn't know what do do either. He was new to this whole father thing! So he stuck to what seemed to work and pulled Ed close. Edward leaned into the hug and buried his face in the general's shoulder.

"Roy... I'm scared. I don't want to die!" Ed repeated, his voice shaking with fear and sadness.

Roy stroked Edward's golden hair in a comforting gesture. "You're not going to die, I won't let that happen. I'm not going to watch my son die again so soon after just getting you back after believing you were dead for so long. You mean so much to me. You know I'd do anything or give up anything for you. Even my life. That's what a parent does. I will protect you with everything I've got and I won't fail like I did during the fight with Father. I won't let anything happen to you." Roy said softly.

Edward stopped trembling and pressed himself closer to Mustang. "You promise?" He murmured.

Roy smiled. "I promise." Ed looked up at him and smiled back. "Now I'm gonna see of I can get us home somehow..." He chuckled.

Mustang reached into his uniform jacket pocket with one arm and pulled out a black phone. He quickly dialed in a number and called Hawkeye.

"Lieutenant? Yeah... I need you to pick us up." Roy said into the phone. "I'm near the camping site in the forest east of central. You know the one. I'll signal you once you get there- What? No... Ed's fine for now ... Okay, okay! It was a stupid idea to take him with me but I don't have time to argue right now! we need you to come get us!" Roy shouted angrily before ending the call and putting the device back into his pocket. He looked down at Edward. "Riza heard what happened, apparently the soldiers that shot you quickly reported a homunculus 'attacking' them and the kidnapping of a certain general Flame alchemist to the Führer after we escaped. Yeeeeah, they went ape shit. You know how fast talk spreads through the military, they think I'm dead. Riza knew that wasn't true so she wasn't worried about me, she was just worried about you getting shot so many times. She'll be here soon to pick us up." Roy explained.

"Well that's just great." Ed growled. "I didn't think it was possible but now everything's even worse than before! Now I'm a kidnapper?! And you are a high ranking officer so the military is gonna be LOOKING for me now. Before now I hadn't done anything bad besides beat up a couple guys so there was no reason for the military to go after me... Agh... It's bad enough my friend freaking shot me."

"I've shot you... Many times..." Roy pointed out.

"But you did that to help me, no matter how painful it was. Brosh shot to kill." He groaned and held his head in his hands. "He's gonna freak when he finds out that it was really me he tried to kill."

Roy sighed and stood up. He dusted himself off and looked into the trees. "I think I see Riza's car... Jeez, she probably broke the speed limit to get here this quickly." He down at Ed who was still sitting on the ground. "Can you walk?" Roy asked.

Ed scowled and stood up. "Of course I can! I'm not that weak. My stone should be fine, it isn't as bad as I first thought. I was just so exhausted from having to heal myself so much. It's still dangerously weak though..." He sighed.

"You'll be fine, Fullmetal. I won't let anything happen to you." Roy murmured. He turned and looked into the trees again, spotting the lieutenant's car pull up along a narrow dirt road a little ways away. "Alright then, lets go home." Roy started walking towards the car.

Edward snorted and tried to follow Mustang but as soon as he took a step, pain shot up his leg and he felt dizzy. Ed cursed under his breath and leaned against a tree. His body was still sore from the attack. Constantly having to reconstruct yourself isn't exactly heathy or painless, it has its downsides. It leaves behind a terrible ache especially if the wound was major.

Although Ed is really good at withstanding pain, after getting shot so many times and having to quickly heal it while burning up your energy while you're at it, there is gonna be some side affects.

"Uuuh... Hey Mustang?" Ed called, wincing from the pain. Roy turned around and saw Edward leaning against a tree with a pained expression. "I could actually use a little help..." He said sheepishly.

Roy smiled and walked back over to Edward. "having some trouble, Fullmetal?" He said with a smirk.

Ed glared at him. "How about you try reconstructing yourself over and over while being shot at, it doesn't exactly feel great." He growled.

"We'll I'll try it out and let you know." Roy laughed. "Come on." He draped Edward's arm over his shoulder and began helping the boy walk to Riza's car. Roy smirked, "this would be so much easier if you weren't so much shorter than I am.' He snickered, earning an automail fist to the stomach.

"Shut up!"

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(Alrighty I fixed some things and added a bit more to this chapter. Some of you pointed out that Ed mentioning Riza at the end of the original chapter was a bit out of place so I changed it.)


	22. Chapter 22

(I added to the end of last chapter, read it or else some things won't make sense.)

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ME NO OWN FMA!

- Chapter 22

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"How are you feeling, Edward?" Riza asked softly from the driver's seat while she drove.

Ed grimaced. "Like I've been run over by a car." He muttered.

"Sorry Fullmetal." Roy sighed. "I shouldn't have let you come with me... I just felt so guilty for burning you the other da-"

"You did WHAT?!" Riza gasped, slamming on the brakes.

Edward was jolted forward and smacked against the back of the front seat as the car screeched to a stop. He yelped in shock and grabbed his aching head. He shot a glare at Riza who was staring at Roy with fiery amber eyes.

"Did you just say you BURNED Edward?!" Hawkeye shouted angrily.

Roy's black eyes widened in terror. "Uh... I..."

Edward interrupted them with an angry snarl. "Enough! Lets just get home so I can sleep this pain away! Yes, Roy burned me. But it was on accident and we already made up. Now can we just drop it and keep driving?!" Ed shouted.

Riza snorted and turned away from Mustang and began driving again. "Fine." she growled. But she was smiling slightly when she realized Ed called Roy's house his home. The boy really was warming up to Mustang besides their rocky past. Riza had always noticed that their relationship was different than most. Sure they both seemed to hate the other and tease eachother nonstop but underneath that there was a softer side to both Roy and Ed.

Ed was a child. A kid who may look and act like an adult but he was vulnerable. Roy was the only person in his life that he could look up to and rely on. surprisingly Roy accepted the responsibility and supported the Elrics the whole time.

Mustang acted like he didn't care about what happened to the boys and most others believed it. But Riza knew better, she saw that Roy cared deeply for both Elrics, especially Edward. Ed was just a kid after all. and he still is. He's a kid who had to join the military for his brother's sake. And Roy felt the need to protect him and be the father the boy never had the chance to have. Their relationship is truly an odd one.

"Finally." Ed mumbled. "I want to get there so I can sleep. I'm so exhausted."

"It's still gonna take a while to get there, Roy's house is on the other side of central. You can sleep right now if you want. We'll wake you when we get there." Riza said.

Edward yawned and nodded. "Damn, I don't know why I'm so tired... What if I never wake up? I don't think my stone is that weak... I guess I'm just exhausted from getting shot and flying halfway across central. But... I don't feel sleepy... It's more like my mind is trying to shut down on its own... Is that normal?"

Roy looked at Ed and smiled. "I'm sure you're fine. After getting shot at and using up half of your energy you're probably gonna be exhausted beyond comprehension. Just get some rest." He said.

Edward nodded sleepily and rested his head against the window. He was out in a matter of seconds.

"out like a light." Roy chuckled.

"Sir... Are you sure he'll be alright? His homunculus side took over in his sleep once, remember?" Riza asked warily. She kept glancing at the rear view mirror at Ed and Roy.

"He'll be fine." Roy reassured. Riza sighed and went back to her driving.

Hawkeye was obeying the speed limit while driving and she made sure to avoid bumps so Edward wouldn't wake up. As a result the ride was quite lengthy.

Roy just stared out the tinted window at the buildings that flew by, lost in thought. A tiny movement caught his eye. He looked to his left where Edward sat next to him. The boy was whimpering quietly and twitching in his sleep.

"Nightmare huh?" Roy thought to himself. Edward answered unconsciously by drawing his arms and legs closer to his chest and letting out another soft whimper. "Don't I know that feeling. Like your own mind is against you. Like every time you close your eyes you will see all of the horrible things you've done. Like no one can help you. Like nobody is there to comfort you." Roy mused sadly.

Edward shifted slightly and gripped his hand over his heart. Mustang looked back at the boy sympathetically. "But unlike me, you have someone there for you." He murmured softly.

Roy reached over and placed his hand on Ed's shoulder in a comforting gesture. Ed calmed slightly and shifted closer to the general. He leaned against Roy and rested his head on the man's shoulder. Mustang smiled warmly at Edward and wrapped his arm around the boy. He gently stroked Ed's hair and simply enjoyed the moment.

Riza was grinning as she watched the two alchemists through the rear view mirror. She didn't say anything to either of them, afraid she might wake Ed and cause the cute moment to shatter. She felt proud of Roy for letting go of his pride and comforting Edward. She always felt a responsibility for the Elrics, but not on the scale Roy did. Ed needed a father, he already had a loving mother in his memories. No one could replace her. Riza shook her head and chuckled quietly to herself. She decided to focus on getting them home.

Despite the peaceful moment and comfort, Edward's dreams were still plagued with nightmares. he was used to this, he had learned to live with it. But this nightmare was nothing compared to the normal dreams...

* * *

Edward was standing alone in a strange black void. Several red ghost-like creatures would whip by with chilling cries that echoed eerily. They flew in irregular patterns as if they were trying to escape the darkness.

Something about this place felt frighteningly familiar to Edward... But he couldn't place it. Was he dreaming? Ed tested his movement and found that he could control himself perfectly well. He pinched himself, and felt a slight pain.

"Weird..." Ed murmured. He gazed into the blackness. "Where am I?"

"Have you forgotten?" A creepy distorted voice laughed. It sounded like it came from all around, echoing from every angle.

Edward's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?! Show yourself!" He shouted.

Laughter erupted from everywhere, the piercing warped voice was painful to hear. "So demanding! Just like the bastard general."

"Don't call him that..." Ed growled. "only I can say that to him!"

"Hahahaa... only you can call him a bastard? Well that's a relief! I'm Scott free then!" The voice laughed.

Edward scowled. "Who are you?" Ed asked again.

Two piercing red eyes with small black pupils and a jagged grin appeared in the darkness in front of Edward. Ed gasped and backed up a step, staring up at the creature.

"Who are you?! W-What are you?!" Ed gasped.

The creature smiled creepily. "Why, I'm YOU, child!" It laughed maniacally.

* * *

Riza gently pulled the car to a stop outside Roy's large house and turned the engine off. She looked back at Ed and Roy, grinning at what she saw. Roy had also fallen asleep, his head resting on Edward's.

"Sir, wake up." Riza called, reaching back and gently tapping the general's shoulder.

Roy slowly lifted his head and rubbed his eyes. "Hm? Are we there?" He murmured drowsily. Riza smiled and nodded. "Okay." Roy then looked at Edward and gently shook the sleeping boy. "Edward, wake up. We're at the house."

Ed didn't wake. He did, however, let out a scared whimper.

Roy frowned and shook him again. "Come on Fullmetal. you can go right back to sleep in your room but first we need to get inside." He said.

Edward grimaced and whimpered again, still not responding to the general's attempts at waking him.

Roy sighed. "Fine." He got out of the car and walked around to Edward's side and opened the door. "You are gonna hate me for this..." Mustang reached down and gently lifted Ed in his arms, gasping at the unexpected weight caused by the automail. He quickly recovered and kicked the car door closed with his foot.

Riza walked up and smiled at the general. "Here, I'll get the front door." She offered. Roy nodded and watched as she ran over to the big wooden door and opened it. He adjusted his grip on Edward and headed inside.

Riza closed the door behind them and lead Roy up the stairs. She did the same to Edward's bedroom door and let Mustang inside. Roy thanked her and dumped Edward on the bed. He was about to leave when Riza stopped him.

"You can't leave him like that!" She sighed, pointing at Ed who was sprawled over the bed on top of the blankets.

"Sorry... I'm not used to this whole father thing..." Roy chuckled. He walked back over to Ed and draped a blanket over him. He looked at Riza for approval. She was shaking her head in exasperation.

"Good enough" she sighed. "Come on. Al is probably still in the study." The two officers walked out of the room and closed the door, leaving Ed alone with his plagued mind.

* * *

"Why I'm YOU, child!"

Edward gasped in shock and stepped back again. But he recovered and suddenly grew hot with anger. "You can't be me! I'm me!" He snarled.

The creature grinned, "Ah, but you don't understand your situation. You are you. But I am also you. I'm who you will be when you aren't you. I'm the new you!" The voice laughed.

Edward scowled. "no. I'm not a monster." He stated.

"But you will be! I will make sure that happens. The new you will be great! Trust me, It will be beautiful." The creature cackled.

"No. I won't be like you. Who the hell are you really?!" Ed snarled.

The creature smiled creepily. "You already know..."

Edward's eyes widened. "Death..."

"HAHAAA! Yes, child!" Death cheered happily. "That word... Death. It is such a beautiful thing. Together we will create so much destruction and despair! It will be GREAT!" Death cackled madly.

"NO!" Ed screamed. "I won't kill anyone! I won't let you do anything!"

Death smirked and stared down at Edward with his cruel eyes. "But child... I'm not giving you a choice." He murmured.

"Wha-" Edward's head was suddenly filled with the wailing and crying of souls. He gasped and fell to his knees, holding his head as it exploded with pain. His vision became blackened. "W-What did you do to me?!" Ed screamed.

Death grinned crazily. "Oh, that's nothing! You should have heard it when there was a hundred souls powering our core! I will miss the sound of despair and misery, but I'd much rather create it in reality. Maybe I will start with your little family! I have a serious grudge against that bastard Mustang! How should I kill him? Quick or slow and painful?" Death taunted.

"N-No! Stay away from him!" Ed gasped against the pounding agony in his head.

"Oh, but it will be fun! Maybe I'll even let you watch!" Death sneered.

"Hawkeye will stop you! She's done it before!" Ed shouted.

Death grinned. "But that won't work! The whole time you have been in control I've been figuring out how to take your body completely. You see, you have become weakened. And I took that chance to switch places with you, permanently. Nothing will save you or your precious family!" He cackled maniacally.

"No! Don't! I won't let you! Leave them ALONE!" Ed snarled.

"But it has already begun..."

Edward's vision suddenly blackened into an even darker nothingness. He felt like he was floating. Drowning. Fading... Into the depths of his own mind.

* * *

*(please review! :D)*


	23. Chapter 23

Me no own FMA!

- chapter 23

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"It's okay, Alphonse your brother is fine now." Roy assured. He and Al were sitting in the living room discussing the recent incident with Edward. "His stone is weaker but he should be perfectly healthy."

"But his stone is almost gone! He could die if something happens!" Al argued.

"He'll be fine. I won't let anything happen to him." Roy said softly.

Alphonse calmed slightly. "Okay... Where is brother now?"

Roy waved his arm at the stairs. "In his room, sleeping. He was really tired after the attack. Heh, so tired in fact that he wouldn't wake up when he fell asleep in the car." He chuckled.

"He wouldn't wake up? That's worrying. he's usually eas- oh! brother! You're awake!" Al gasped, staring over the general's shoulder.

Roy turned his head and saw Edward standing directly behind him. Ed's eyes were narrowed but he was smiling so he must be feeling okay.

Roy grinned. "Well good morning sleeping beauty! How are you feeling?" He laughed.

Edward smiled back. "I feel great. Thanks for asking general." He said sweetly.

Roy was taken aback when Ed called him a general. Fullmetal hasn't called Mustang that in a long time unless it had the word 'bastard' somewhere in the same sentence.

"Well... You're in a good mood." Roy said, still shocked at Edward's formalities.

Ed grinned even bigger. "Hey, Roy." He said cheerfully.

"Y-Yes?" Roy stammered. Ed seemed too happy. It was kinda creepy. So was his smile.

"I have something for you." Ed answered, tilting his head slightly to the side. It probably should have looked kind of cute, but for some reason it deeply unnerved Mustang.

"What is it?" Roy asked warily.

Edward smiled brightly and lifted his flesh hand. His fingers suddenly stretched into deadly claws, shocking everyone in the room and making Alphonse gasp. Ed opened his eyes wider, revealing an inky black iris instead of gold.

Roy gasped and tried jumping away. But four spikes stabbed through his stomach with a disgusting tearing sound. Roy faintly heard the screams of Alphonse but his mind felt like it was under water. Mustang's eyes were wide, staring down at the grinning Edward.

Ed retracted his claws, ripping them out of the general's stomach. Blood started to flow from the four pierce wounds at an alarming rate. Roy coughed up some of the sticky scarlet liquid before he crumpled to the floor.

Edward wiped the blood from his fingers and smiled down at the bleeding general with his cruel black eyes. He crouched down and leaned close to Roy's ear.

"Hope you liked your gift, dad." He sneered.

Roy tried to speak but only ended up coughing up more blood, adding to the growing pool of it on the floor. Ed laughed and stood up, wiping his hands on his shirt.

"General!" Al screamed. he stared at Edward in horror. "Ed! Wh...Why did you do that?!" Alphonse gasped.

Edward looked at his brother and grinned creepily. "Your brother isn't here, Al. He's gone, and he isn't coming back to save you."

Alphonse gasped and backed away. "D-Death... Why are you doing this?!"

Death stepped toward Al. "Why? Because its fun! You should try it sometime!" He laughed.

He raised his arm and stretched the shadows from the darkest corners of the room. The black tendrils slowly spread around the walls behind Edward, their red eyes as cold and cruel as death's black ones. He extended his fingers into spears and advanced toward the younger brother.

Al's eyes widened. "H-Hawkeye! HAWKEYE! Help me!" He screamed.

Edward frowned. "She's still here? I thought she left. No matter, I'll just kill her too!"

Footsteps pounded from above. Seconds later Riza sprinted down the last flight of stairs and jumped into the room. She pulled out her gun and pointed it at Edward.

"You little brat!" She growled. "I won't let you kill anyone! Surrender now or else I will shoot!"

Death smiled. "You won't let me kill anyone? You're a little late for that..." He looked down at the bleeding general lying motionless on the ground.

Hawkeye gasped and stared at Roy in horror. "N-No... No... You BASTARD!" She screeched, pulling the trigger.

The bullet hit Death right in the heart. But he didn't fall over, he didn't even flinch. He smirked at Riza's shocked face as his wound healed.

"That won't work. Edward isn't here to save you. He's gone!" Death sneered. "I'm now in control! Permanently!"

He pointed at her with his flesh hand, a deadly spear shooting out and stabbing her shoulder. Riza gasped and grabbed the wound in pain. Death cackled gleefully and readied another spear.

"_NO!_" a voice shouted in Death's thoughts. The image of Edward appeared in the black void of his mind.

"What?! H-How are you still alive?! You should have disappeared in the torrent of souls!" Death gasped.

"_You creepy bastard, it's MY mind! I know how to use it!" _Ed shouted._ "You should have known you couldn't get rid of me like that! You've seen my memories, you saw how I defeated pride! I can easily survive in a homunculus' mind! And you thought I would get lost in the many souls trapped inside me, but my soul is strong! It's even stronger than YOURS!_" Ed screeched.

"No! How can you be stronger than me?! You were weakened! I'm a homunculus! You're just a human!" Death wailed.

"_You underestimated me! You underestimated humans! And that was your worst mistake of all!_" Ed screamed.

"NO!" Death cried as his vision was dragged back to the black void, staring face-to-face with Edward Elric's soul.

Edward stared into Death's eyes. "_This is my body. And I intend to keep it!_" He shouted. The image of himself began to fade from the darkness.

"No! I want to be free! I want to do what I was meant to do! Why won't you let me?!" Death screamed.

"Because. You were never supposed to exist." Edward said aloud in his own voice.

Death's screams faded into nothing as Ed regained control of his mind. He clenched his fists and sighed. "I'm back. It worked." He said to himself.

He opened his gold eyes and looked around the room. 'Looks like death wasn't able to do much damage...' Ed thought.

But then his eyes traveled to the bloodied floor. Alphonse and Riza were crouched over Mustang's motionless body, frantically trying to save him. Riza was holding her shoulder with one arm. Blood was leaking sluggishly from the wound, staining her military uniform.

Edward gasped and backed away. "N-No... No... Not Roy! I killed Roy. I murdered him!" Ed whimpered.

Alphonse looked up when he heard his brother's voice. "Ed! Is that you?! You're okay!" He gasped. Edward stared at his younger brother without answering.

"Ed?"

Edward shook his head in despair. "I killed him... I killed Roy..." He whimpered.

Al's eyes widened. "No you didn't hurt him! Death did! And he's no-"

"I'M the one who KILLED him!" Ed shouted. "I murdered the closest thing I've ever had to a father!" Ed lowered his voice and stared at his red-stained hands. "The blood is on my hands... My hands..." He suddenly spun around and sprinted to the door.

"EDWARD!" Al called after his brother as he ran off.

Al was about to jump up and go after him but Riza stopped him.

"Alphonse, Ed will be fine. We will find him later. First we need to save Mustang." She said sternly.

Al clenched his fists. "Alright... Brother will be okay..." He then crouched down and looked over Roy's body. Mustang was barely breathing but Riza had managed to stop the bleeding. "Stand back. May taught me medical alchehestry. I should be able to save him."

Riza nodded and stepped away. Al clapped his hands and placed them over Roy's wound. The bright light ran it's course. Mustang was healed for the most part. He had already lost so much blood and the wound would still bother him slightly.

Roy groggily opened his eyes and looked around. He stared at the blood that surrounded him before it registered in his mind that it was his own. He gasped and sat up, wincing in pain. He frantically scanned the room.

"What happened?!" He demanded.

Riza smiled. "Alphonse saved you." She said.

Roy looked around again. "Where is Edward?"

Riza glanced at Al before answering. "Edward fought Death off and regained control. But... He saw what happened to you and ran away." She said softly.

Roy gasped and struggled to stand. "We've gotta go find him!" He shouted.

Riza gently pushed him back to the floor. "No, stay down. You've lost too much blood, you can't go after Ed. He's a smart kid, he'll be fine." She said sternly.

Roy glared at the lieutenant and pushed her hands away. "No. I'm going to find him with or without your help. You can't stop me, that's an order." He growled.

Riza hesitated but realized that it would be pointless to argue. "Alright... Lets go find that little brat." She sighed.

She offered her hand to help Roy up. Mustang smiled and took it. With some extra help he managed to stand, ignoring the terrible pain of his wound.

"Let's go." Roy said. He took a step but stumbled from the pain that flared up. Riza quickly rushed forward and helped his steady himself. "T-Thanks lieutenant..." He sighed. Riza smiled and nodded. She draped his arm over her shoulders and the three of them limped out into the rain.

* * *

(sorry if the ending got a bit sloppy, I started to get writer's block... Dx


	24. Chapter 24

Me no own FMA

***(Warning! Ed is a little OOC and I had writer's block the whole time I was writing this chapter so it's gonna be a bit lame.)**

- chapter 24

* * *

_"I killed him... I killed him..."_

Edward sprinted through the rain at full speed, the droplets stinging his face like tiny needles. His tears simply added to the moisture that was soaking him to the bone.

Ed didn't even know where he was going, nor did he care. All he wanted was to get as far away from his friends as he could before he hurt anyone else.

Edward slowed down and stopped. He stood motionless in the rain, staring at the ground. "How could I let this happen?!" Ed's thoughts cried. "What do I do? How can I live without him?"

Edward glanced up and found himself in a park. No people were around since it was raining but Ed didn't care if he was seen, he didn't care about anything.

Ed wiped the tears from his eyes but the motion was useless. His sleeve was already soaked with rain and more tears replaced the ones that were wiped away.

Ed began to wander around the park with no direction in mind. His thoughts were plagued with guilt and grief as he walked through the rain.

He slowly approached a big tree near the edge of the park and tried to shelter himself from the rain in it's branches. The rain still reached him, however. Ed drew his knees to his chest and buried his face in his arms. He couldn't stop a few sobs from escaping as he curled up in the branches thinking about everything he had done.

"How could I do that to Roy... Riza must hate me. Al must hate me. I hate me too. What do I do? I don't have anywhere to go. I can't go back to them... What do I do?!" Edward whimpered. "I killed him..."

"Um... E-Excuse me... Young boy? Are you alright?" A feminine voice called from below.

Edward sniffed and wiped the tears from his eyes. He looked down and saw a brown-haired woman standing at the base of his tree holding an umbrella above her head. "I... I don't know..." Ed whimpered.

"Why are you crying? Can I hel-" she suddenly stopped talking and gasped, staring up at Edward in shock. "Blonde hair and G-Gold eyes... You're Edward Elric... Y-You're that homunculus!"

Edward whimpered and buried his face in his arms again. "I know, I know! I'm a monster... I hate it. No matter what I do I end up hurting someone. I don't want to hurt my friends anymore!" He wailed.

The woman was surprised to hear such pain in those words despite coming from someone so young. This is not how she imagined the homunculus would act. But even though she was scared, she felt the need to reach out to this young boy.

"It's okay. If they are your friends then they will forgive you. What did you do anyway?" The woman asked.

Edward sniffed and pulled his legs closer to himself. "I killed him... Roy is dead because of me... I killed the only person who ever treated me like their son... A-And now he's gone because of me!" Ed cried.

"Oh... Well, It'll be okay. Um... I'm sure you didn't mean to..." The woman stammered. She was surprised and a little frightened when she heard what this boy had supposedly done.

"But it's my fault! I killed him... And now the military is going to hunt me down and kill me!" Ed wailed.

The woman gasped. "But... You're just a kid! And you are a homunculus. Can't you live through anything?"

Edward pointed at his heart. "My core is powered by a philosopher's stone. And it's almost gone. Mustang promised that he wouldn't let anything happen to me... A-And I killed him! Roy loved me like I was his own... How could I do that to him..." Ed whispered.

"If he loved you then I'm sure he would forgive you." The woman said softly.

"But what about my brother and the lieutenant? They probably hate me... And I don't blame them. I'm a monster." Ed murmured. He lifted his hand and stared at the blood that still stained it. But the rain washed the rest away.

The woman frowned. "Now you listen here." She said firmly. Edward looked down at her. "A family stays together no matter what happens. And I'm sure they will forgive you! You obviously didn't mean to hurt them and you feel guilty about it. Now you get down from that tree right now, I'm taking you home before you catch a cold." She scolded.

Edward stared at her in surprise. 'She knows what I am yet she isn't scared... She's even telling me what to do despite knowing that I am a homunculus.' He smiled sadly. 'it's kinda nice.'

Edward nodded and jumped down to the grass beside the woman. She smiled and held the umbrella over him.

"So where do you live?" She asked.

Edward pointed down the street to his right. "General Roy Mustang's estate a few miles that way" he said.

"THE Roy Mustang? As in the flame alchemist? I've heard great things about him. He's a great m-" Edward's sad look stopped her. "Oh... Hey... It's okay... You didn't mean to hurt him, I'm sure he would forgive you if he was... You know... Alive. Agh, I'm just making things worse, aren't I?" The woman sighed.

Edward shook his head. "N-No... You're fine. I know what I did, and I can never make up for it. I just wish I could have said goodbye to Roy." He murmured.

"Let's forget about that and talk about something else. Come on, Edward, if that's still your name, lets get you home." The woman said.

Edward nodded slowly and began to follow her through the rain, back to the place he had called home for the past two months.

"You know, I wasn't expecting a homunculus to act like this. Who knew the terror of central was just a little kid." The woman said, trying to start a conversation that didn't involve Roy.

"Well that's because I'm still Edward Elric, even though I'm like this. I still retained some of my humanity, although I'm not physically human, I don't have to act like a monster." Edward replied. "Most of the time..." He added quietly.

The kind woman was confused at his statement but decided not to bother him about it. "that's good... You know, I think it's very unfair how you were described in that article. You aren't a monster."

Edward scowled and shook his head. "No, I'm still very much a monster. I'm far from being considered sane. I may seem fine but that's because I have it under control... For now." He then lowered his voice and looked down at the ground. "I should have stopped myself sooner... Maybe then Roy would still be alive..."

The lady put her hand on Ed's shoulder. "We can't always stop those things. It's not your fault." She said.

"But it is my fault... I-" a quiet sound interrupted Ed's words. He glanced around. "What was that?"

"I don't know..." The woman replied.

"Ed!" a faraway voice called.

Edward frantically looked around again. "...Roy?" He whispered.

"Edward!" Roy's voice called again, sounding closer this time. Ed spun around and stared through the rain at an approaching group of people.

"Roy?!" Ed gasped, his eyes widening. Mustang was being supported by Riza as they ran toward him.

"Ed! I finally found you!" Roy shouted.

Edward stared at the limping general in disbelief, tears beginning to form in his eyes. He suddenly sprinted through the rain toward the approaching general with inhuman speed. Roy gasped when he was tackled by the blonde boy and fell to the wet sidewalk. He tried to ignore the hot pain that flared from his wound as he crashed to the concrete with the heavy teenager on top of him.

Ed wrapped his arms tightly around Mustang and buried his face in the general's bloodied jacket. "Roy! You're okay! But I thought... I thought I-"

Roy shushed Ed's cries and hugged him back. "It's alright, I'm fine. It takes more than that to kill me, you know that. But please don't you ever run off like that again." He murmured.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry! I couldn't stop him, I let him hurt you..." Ed whimpered.

"shh, It's okay. It wasn't your fault, you had been through a lot so you couldn't fight him and I should have known something was wrong." Roy said, stroking Ed's hair comfortingly.

Riza and Alphonse stood by quietly without bothering the two alchemists. The woman who helped Ed was smiling at the sight, standing under her umbrella from a distance.

Roy looked up and saw her standing there. He suddenly pushed Edward behind him and shielded the boy from the mysterious lady. "Who are you? You better not try to hurt him or I-"

"Roy, it's okay. She helped me." Edward snorted, pushing Mustang aside and walked over to the brown-haired woman.

She smiled at him and kneeled down. "I'm glad he's okay." She said. She suddenly pulled Ed into a hug. "See, families always forgive and never stop caring about you. Remember that." She murmured. She then looked up at Roy with a firm look in her eyes. "You take care of this boy now, General Mustang. He's a good kid." She said.

Roy smiled. "I'll try." He laughed.

The woman nodded and With that, she turned and walked into the rain and out of sight.

Edward stared after her solemnly. "You know, she scolded me until I agreed to go back home as if I was just a kid even though she knew what I really was." He said to Roy.

Mustang nodded and ruffled Ed's wet hair. "Sometimes you just need someone to slap you in the face and tell you to get off your lazy butt." He chuckled.

Ed smirked and pointed at Riza. "Kinda how Hawkeye shoots at you when you don't do your paperwork?"

"Yeah, Kinda." Roy laughed.

Riza stepped up. "Speaking of paperwork, sir, you need to go back to work tomorrow. You've already wasted a month of vacation." She said sternly.

"Agh... Do I have to? Great, there's probably gonna be a mountain of paperwork for me..." Roy sighed exaggeratedly, slapping his hand over his face.

"Aw, suck it up Mustang." Ed snorted.

"You didn't have to do paperwork! I gave you missions that let you run around in the field helping people while I was stuck in the office!" Roy growled.

Edward smiled warmly. "And I appreciated that." He said softly.

Roy stopped and stared at Ed in disbelief. "Wait... What was that? Are you thanking me?!" He exclaimed. "I don't think I heard you right, can I hear that again?" He leaned closer to Ed and put his hand to his ear.

Ed rolled his eyes and shoved Roy away. "Don't push it." He growled.

Roy laughed and stood back up. "We'll let's go home, pipsqueak." He said, pushing Ed in the direction of his house

"Yeah. Home." Ed sighed.

* * *

**(GAH! I really didn't like how this chapter came out. I had a little writer's block running around in my head the whole time I wrote it. Meh. At least I have an idea of what the next chapter will be about. No more angst or misery for a little while after being cruel to Eddie for at least five chapters strait. Sorry Ed! You're still me favorite! :3)**


	25. Chapter 25

I do NOT own FMA. It belongs to the queen beef, Arakawa. :3

* * *

- chapter 25: TOBUSCUS ADVENTURES! (Sorry, inside joke. xD)

"Agh... I don't want to go to work." Roy whined as he was shoved out of his house by Edward and Alphonse.

"Too bad! The military will probably think something's up if you spend any more time away from the office. you might get fired! I don't want to make you to lose your job, so just GO!" Edward snorted.

Roy groaned and stood on his porch step. "Fine... Do you still have that phone I gave you?" He asked. Edward rolled his eyes and held out said device. Roy nodded. "Good. Call me if anything goes wrong. I really don't want to leave you alone so soon after 'He' Attacked us."

"We probably won't be seeing Death for a while. I think I blocked him off pretty well this time." Ed replied. "Now GO!" He shouted, giving Roy another shove.

Mustang stumbled a few steps but quickly recovered and slumped his shoulders. "I'm leaving, I'm leaving, calm yourself. See you later." He mumbled, slowly walking down his driveway toward his car.

Ed and Al waved after him and closed the door. Roy could have swore he heard Al say something along the lines of, 'Hey Ed could you turn into a kitty for me? It'd be so cute!' Roy chuckled and shook his head. He walked over to his car and got in it. "Alright, gotta get going now." He sighed to himself and started his car. He slowly backed out of the driveway and began the drive to Central HQ.

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SQUIGGLES!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The black vehicle pulled up along the road next to HQ. Roy sighed and sat back in his seat. He looked out the window and saw soldiers walking around the courtyard. Some he recognized while others he wasn't really officially aquatinted with. Roy looked down at himself and straightened his uniform that was now free of rips and blood thanks to Edward and his alchemy.

'Ah, time to work.' Roy thought. 'And by work I mean sign loads of paperwork.' He sighed and opened the car door.

He stepped out of his car and trudged through the courtyard with his shoulders slumped tiredly. For some reason he was getting a lot of odd looks from passing soldiers. Some even stopped walking and stared after him in shock. Roy just ignored them and walked to the huge building and entered.

Just like before many soldiers stopped what they were doing and watched the general pass by in disbelief. 'Jeez, what's up with everybody staring? It's kinda rude.' Roy thought.

He walked up to his secretary who was standing nearby and tapped her shoulder. She turned around and looked up at Mustang. She gasped and stepped back in surprise, staring at him as if he was a ghost.

"Do I have any appointments scheduled for today?" Roy asked. The woman still looked at him in disbelief and didn't answer. "It's rude to stare." Roy growled.

The secretary yelped and pushed up her glasses. She pulled out a file and frantically looked through it. "Uh... N-No sir. There are no a-appointments for you." She stuttered.

"Thats good to hear." Roy sighed. "Less for me to worry about. Thanks." He turned away from the secretary and walked down a hallway toward a staircase. Again he got many stares from soldiers he didn't even know! He took a deep breath and chose to ignore them yet again.

Roy slowly climbed the stairs and entered an empty hallway on the third floor. He walked down it and stopped in front of his office door.

"Ho, boy. Better brace myself for an avalanche of paperwork..." He sighed. Roy reached for the door handle but the sound of someone running distracted him.

"General?!" A male voice exclaimed.

Roy turned toward the sound and saw Denny Brosh running toward him. The young soldier skidded to a halt in front of Mustang and caught his breath.

"What is it you need, Sergeant?" Roy growled.

*(Is Denny a Sergeant? I can't remember, so I'm gonna stick with Sargent :3)*

"S-Sir, What happened to you?! The whole of central command was in an uproar! I'm just glad to see you're safe!" Denny gasped.

Roy narrowed his eyes. 'What is he talking ab- ... oh... Yeah. I was kidnapped by a homunculus.' He looked back at Denny who was smiling up at Roy. 'And Brosh is the one who shot Ed...' Roy cleared his throat and stared down at the blonde soldier seriously. "Brosh, we need to talk." He said.

Denny stopped smiling and looked up at Roy questioningly. "H-Have I done something wrong, sir?" He stuttered nervously.

Roy shook his head. "Not really. I just need to talk to you about Edw- er... The homunculus." He said.

"O-Okay..." Denny murmured.

Roy opened his office door and motioned to the room. "In my office." He said. Denny gulped and walked into the big room nervously. Roy pointed at one of the couches. "Have a seat." Brosh obeyed an sat down. Mustang sat on the other couch across from Denny, his eyes serious and cold.

"W-What is it you wanted to talk about sir?" Brosh muttered nervously.

"You are the one who started the attack on the homunculus, right? You shot first?" Roy asked.

Denny looked confused for a little while before answering. "Yeah, I did. Then the others started shooting with me. I was hoping that it would eventually kill that thing." He said.

Roy's eyes narrowed at Denny's choice of words. "Did that... Thing... Talk to you?"

Brosh nodded. "Yeah it did. It tried to convince me that it was friendly so it could escape. And then it had the nerve to claim that it was Edward... the little bastard."

"And that was when you shot him?" Roy said, receiving a nod from Brosh. He scowled. "Tell me Sargent, was the homunculus in pain when you shot it?"

Denny looked a little frightened and confused at Roy's deadly tone. "Well... I guess it did look like it was in pain... A lot of it. But it's a homunculus, not a human like you and me." He said.

Roy suddenly stood up and clenched his fists. "Don't say that! He's not some sort of animal! Homunculi feel pain just like we do!" He snarled.

Denny cowered slightly at the general's rage. "O-Okay! I'm sorry! What's gotten into you?" He gasped.

Roy sighed and sat back down. "Sorry, Sergeant. I didn't mean to shout at you. Tell me, do you miss Edward?" He asked quietly.

Brosh glanced at the floor sadly. "Of course I do... He was a good friend of mine. And I know how much he meant to you. The poor kid had so much to look forward to, only to commit suicide? I don't get it."

Roy clenched his fists and looked at Denny with cold eyes. "He didn't kill himself! There was a reason! That bastard Father corrupted him!" He hissed.

Denny flinched. "S-Sorry, I know how sensitive you are about Edward. I shouldn't have said that." He said.

Roy shook his head. "Forget about it." He suddenly looked serious again but something else was shining in his black eyes. "So, you miss Fullmetal... What if I told you he was still alive?" Roy murmured.

"What?!" Denny gasped, eyes wide. "H-How is that possible?!"

Roy continued to look the young soldier in the eyes. "It could be if he was a homunculus." He said quietly.

Denny stared at Roy, mouth agape. "B...But... He isn't... I saw his body! He died!" Brosh exclaimed.

"He faked it. He was afraid that he would hurt somebody now that he's a homunculus. But then Alphonse saw him and his cover was blown. Since then we have been trying to find a cure to return him to normal. we soon realized Ed was sharing his body with another soul, a homunculus's soul. This homunculus is extremely dangerous and quite insane. We have been trying to keep the homunculus from controlling Ed but so far it has only helped somewhat. Yesterday Ed asked me if he could come with me on a mission, I said yes. He shape-shifted into Hawkeye's dog and followed me. But then it went wrong and he was caught by the enemy and thrown off the roof. And... Well... You know the rest." Roy murmured, casting a fiery gaze at the speechless soldier.

Denny tried to speak but he couldn't find anything to say. He suddenly looked horrified. "S...So... I tried to kill Edward?... And the other soldiers t-they shot too. He looked so scared. He looked like he was in so much pain too... Oh my gosh... I-I shot my friend! I hurt him! I'm so sorry!" Brosh gasped.

Roy stood up and walked to his desk. "Edward has already forgiven you. But because of what happened, his philosopher's stone is nearly gone. If it is used up, he dies, just like the other homunculi." He said bluntly. He sat down at his desk and began signing documents supplied by a mountain of paperwork stacked on his desk.

Brosh shuffled his feet nervously. "So... What do I do? Am I going to be punished?" He asked.

Roy glanced up. "No, you are dismissed. But I would like you to apologize to Edward. He was really upset that his friend tried to kill him. I can't leave work, I have already stayed away for too long, but I am allowing you to run an 'errand'. Could you check on the boys for me? And apologize to Fullmetal while you're at it." Roy said. He went back to scribbling away on his paperwork.

Denny was still unsure what to do. This whole thing was so sudden and unbelievable. But he was given his orders, apologize to Edward. Which on its own was kinda scary without the chance that he was still mad at Brosh for shooting him.

Denny sighed and opened the door to leave.

"Oh, and Sargent?" Roy called before he left. "Keep this to yourself. No one can know about Fullmetal." He murmured.

Denny nodded and left the room. He stood alone in the hallway for a few moments to collect himself. He sighed and turned and walked down the hallway.

"Well... Might as well get this over with." he mumbled.

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~meanwhile!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"No Al!" Ed shouted angrily, folding his arms and giving his little brother a glare.

"Pleeeeease brother?" Al pleaded. "You never let me have one so can't you do this for me just this once?"

Edward scowled and looked away childishly. "I said no, Al!"

Alphonse moved closer to his brother and gave Ed his best sad puppy dog face. "Come on! I've been really stressed lately with everything that has been happening and they are really good with relieving stress!" He begged.

Edward sighed and looked down at his little brother. He grimaced and reluctantly nodded his head. "Fine... But just this once, okay Al? But you aren't allowed to pick up any strays for two months!" He snorted.

Alphonse nodded and jumped to his feet. "YAY! Thanks brother! I promise it's gonna be so cute!" He said happily.

Edward shook his head. "Agh... The things I do for you, Alphonse." He sighed.

Al backed up and waited eagerly as his brother was surrounded by a red light. Edward's form slowly began to shrink, getting closer to the wood floor. The light faded to reveal a gold-colored cat with a familiar patch of long blonde fur on it's head sitting on the floor where Edward was. Alphonse clapped his hands happily and kneeled down.

"AWWW! You are so cute as a kitty, brother!" Al cooed.

Ed-cat scowled. "Agh... I feel so small." He hissed.

"But kitties are supposed to be small, that's why they are more cuddly than a dog!" Al said. He reached over and patted the gold cat's head.

Ed pulled away and smoothed his hair back down its his paws. "Don't make this weirder than it already is." He sighed.

"But you look so cute!" Al cooed. He scooped Ed into his arms and petted the little cat. Edward squirmed in his brother's hands but couldn't get away.

"Ehh... This is so weird..." He growled, his long golden tail swishing back and forth. Alphonse gently stroked his head and Edward could feel a purr rising in his throat. "Oh, hell no! I am not gonna pu- *purr* dammit." He finally pushed himself out of his brother's arms and fell to the floor. Ed shook out his ruffled fur and hissed up at Al. "I said don't make this weirder than it already is!"

"Sorry brother, I just haven't seen a cat for a while let alone hold one." Al chuckled sheepishly.

Ed snorted and waved his tail. "Don't get used to it because I am never doing this again! And remember, no picking up strays for two months!" Ed growled.

"Okay, brother. But you really are cute as a kitty." Al sighed.

"You think all cats are cute." Edward snorted.

"But they a-" the sound of knocking interrupted Al's words. He looked at the front door curiously. "I wonder who that could be? Maybe the general came back early." Before Ed could protest Alphonse picked him up off the ground up and carried him to the front door. Edward groaned in annoyance as he dangled from his brother's arms.

Alphonse opened the door. "Hello?"

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~MEANWHILE AGAIN~~~~~~~~~~

Denny Brosh knocked on the big wooden door and waited nervously. Now that he knew he nearly killed Ed and he was also a homunculus, a powerful and dangerous creature, it's quite scary to think what Edward might do if he was still mad.

Denny shook his head, 'He wouldn't do anything too bad! It's Edward, my friend... who I also happened to nearly kill...' He shook his head again and Instead stared up at the huge estate in awe. 'At least now that Ed lives with the general this house isn't being wasted on just Mustang.' He thought.

The sound of footsteps echoed from inside, getting closer and closer. The door opened and revealed Alphonse dressed in a brown shirt and jeans. a little gold-colored cat with ruffled fur (and a familiar hairstyle :3) dangled from Al's arms, an annoyed look on it's face.

the cat looked up to see who was at the door. His gold eyes widened in fear when he saw Brosh standing there.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh SHIT!" The kitty gasped in a slightly higher-pitched version of Ed's voice.

Alchemical energy suddenly crackled around him, the cat began to grow and change form. His right arm and left leg turned back into metal and his body grew rapidly, forcing Alphonse to release him.

"Brother!" Al gasped as Ed dropped to the floor.

Edward scrambled up to stand and disappeared in a blur. He ran to the other side of the room with lightning speed and ducked into the stairwell. He hastily climbed the stairs and hid against a wall in the hallway, panting for breath.

Denny stared after the boy in disbelief. 'Okay... That was... Weird.' He looked at Alphonse who was watching Denny warily. "Uhhh... The general sent me to check on you guys and apologize to Ed for uh... S-Shooting him." He said awkwardly.

Edward's head poked out from the stairwell. "What? Mustang sent you? So... You know?"

Denny nodded and scratched the back of his head nervously. "Yeah..." He mumbled.

Edward stepped out of the stairwell and walked over. "So you wanted to apologize?" He said.

Brosh sighed and nodded. "I'm sorry I shot you. I didn't know it was really you, I thought it was another homunculus like envy trying to trick me." He murmured.

Ed smiled slightly. "Apology accepted. Now would you like to come inside or would you rather stand there in the doorway?"

Denny shook his head. "No, the general only told me to run an errand and check up on you guys. I don't want to keep him waiting for too long." He said. He then smiled sadly at Edward. "I really am sorry." He murmured.

"Pfft, you're fine. Roy's already put many a bullet in me, what's a few more? seriously, I forgive you." Ed snorted, waving his hand dismissively.

Brosh sighed in relief. "Thanks, Ed. I should probably get going now, the general will probably hound me for taking too long." He turned and started to walk down the porch step. He stopped and looked back. "I'm glad you're alive, major. And I hope you figure something out soon. Until then, stay out of trouble, okay?"

Edward nodded and smiled. "Thanks but I don't think that's possible! You know me, trouble always seems to show up at my door!" He laughed.

Denny smiled and waved as he walked down the driveway and got into his car. Ed watched him drive off and closed the mahogany door. He turned to look at his brother who was waiting patiently for Ed to finish talking.

Alphonse smiled brightly and looked up at his brother hopefully. "So... Can you turn back into a kitty now?" He asked innocently.

"Hell NO!"

* * *

EDIT!

IMMA GOIN TO MAH FIRST ANIME CONVENTION! :D

Anime Banzai 2013. It's being held in salt lake city utah on Oct. 18th. ANYBODI ELSE GOIN SO AI CAN GLOMP YA IN REAL LIFE?

only... vic won't be there... neither will any other voice actors from FMA except Falman... MEH! ITS STILL A CON!

Now's my chance to by Ed's jacket. or E'd jacket snuggie. :3 ME GUSTA.

I'M SO EXCITEEEEEEEED! (but it's not official...)

* * *

(That chapter didn't really have much action in it but I like how it came out. Except the ending, the ending seems a bit weird. Oh well. I like the kitty part. :3)

*AUTHOR'S NOTE:

*(hey guys! I wanted to let you know that I started to draw the characters and stuff from this story on my deviant art page! (username is SapphireClaw) but the characters are... Well... They are all drawn as cats. Because I was bored and drew death as a cat one day and... I suck at drawing humans. *shame*)

I also did a little animation in flipnote studio! It's an MV sort of thing with the song 'Awoken' by WoodenToaster and H8_seed. Look up 'FMA cats awoken flipnote.' This song is PERFECT for TUP. Seriously.

anyway, check it out if you are interested! I am also open for requests and stuff on my deviant art. Come on guys I'm bored. I'll draw anything for free as long as it is within reason and my own capabilities.)*


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